AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target Raised to $134.00 at Scotiabank

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective hoisted by Scotiabank from $131.00 to $134.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE AU opened at $124.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market cap of $62.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.73. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $28.44 and a 52-week high of $128.54.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 70.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.