AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Lifted to Buy at Investec

Investec upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of AU stock opened at $30.69 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.45. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $15.60 and a 52-week high of $32.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 108.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,215 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at $118,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.