Scotiabank Lowers AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target to $133.00

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $134.00 to $133.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the mining company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 62.50% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $81.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $105.98 and a 200-day moving average of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth approximately $321,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 754.6% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,604 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 20,842 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 156.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 80,307 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 48,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,017,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.