Zacks Research Downgrades AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) to Hold

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $89.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 0.58. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $22.45 and a 1 year high of $91.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,748,740 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,589,484,000 after buying an additional 464,333 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 14.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,705,516 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $401,269,000 after purchasing an additional 738,343 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $361,310,000 after purchasing an additional 284,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,197,861 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $149,212,000 after purchasing an additional 140,410 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.