AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Raised to “Sector Outperform” at Scotiabank

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was upgraded by Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $90.00 target price on the mining company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $55.00. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 31.15% from the company’s current price.

AU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital set a $76.00 price target on AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $68.63 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $22.45 and a twelve month high of $79.94.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%. On average, analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 13,908.8% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 9,526 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 9,458 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 58.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 489,991 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $18,188,000 after purchasing an additional 181,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 12.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,608 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,004,000 after purchasing an additional 73,671 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 19.8% during the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,337,673 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $86,774,000 after purchasing an additional 386,078 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.