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

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $134.00 to $133.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the mining company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $81.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.55. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $41.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,070 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 4,825 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $266,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.