Citigroup Lowers AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target to $125.00

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Citigroup from $130.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the mining company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 60.53% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock traded down $2.48 on Wednesday, reaching $77.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 794,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,014,483. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.13. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $45.36 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The company has a market capitalization of $39.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at about $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after buying an additional 64,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,740,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.