AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 9.3 %

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $33.55 on Thursday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $21.65 and a 52-week high of $38.63. The stock has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $467,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882,283 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $118,448,000 after acquiring an additional 3,764,165 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $63,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680,261 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $79,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177,783 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.