AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AU. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $83.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.06. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $43.44 and a one year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.71.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 9.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.