Citigroup Cuts AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target to $125.00

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the mining company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AU. Weiss Ratings downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Roth Capital reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.5%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $76.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. AngloGold Ashanti has a fifty-two week low of $45.36 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. As a group, analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,979,174,000 after acquiring an additional 252,307 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $620,874,000 after purchasing an additional 98,250 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $488,820,000 after purchasing an additional 26,421 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $436,735,000 after purchasing an additional 191,859 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.