AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target Lowered to $125.00 at Citigroup

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the mining company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Roth Capital dropped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU opened at $79.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.06. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $45.36 and a one year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market cap of $40.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 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.