AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $124.70 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $62.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 0.59. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12 month low of $28.44 and a 12 month high of $128.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.73.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.13%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after acquiring an additional 207,923 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,270,000. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at about $887,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,408,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 259,363 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $18,241,000 after purchasing an additional 18,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.