JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target to $134.00

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $155.00 to $134.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the mining company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AU. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Roth Capital decreased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AU stock opened at $76.75 on Thursday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $45.36 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.82 and a 200-day moving average of $96.81. The company has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.