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

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $134.00 to $133.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the mining company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 58.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AU. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.89. 1,457,412 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,075,158. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.37. The firm has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.98. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $426,477,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $179,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042,357 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.