AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AU. Roth Capital set a $76.00 target price on AngloGold Ashanti and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU opened at $77.77 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $85.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.50. The stock has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.99.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 11th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%.The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. Analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 80.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,270,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 46.8% in the second quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 56,545 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 18,016 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth $5,538,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 102.6% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,101 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 6,636 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 65,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.