Wall Street Zen Downgrades AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) 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 note issued to investors on Saturday.

AU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $57.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.50 and a 200 day moving average of $40.52. The firm has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.46. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $22.45 and a 1 year high of $59.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 11,353 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.7% in the first quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 38,529 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 13.1% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,963 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.