AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AU. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 1.7 %

AngloGold Ashanti stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $36.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,769,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $21.65 and a 12-month high of $38.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.42. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.92.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,525,000 after buying an additional 962,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,900,000 after buying an additional 193,992 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $45,043,000. Hedge funds and other 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.