AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AU. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $124.67 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $28.44 and a 12-month high of $125.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $99.33 and a 200-day moving average of $80.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $62.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 0.59.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The business 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 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.13%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.