AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Upgraded by Scotiabank to Sector Outperform Rating

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was upgraded by research analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $90.00 price objective on the mining company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.31% from the company’s current price.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $66.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.53. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $22.45 and a 1-year high of $79.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.00 and a 200-day moving average of $52.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.99.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,017,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,958 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,852,722 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $219,100,000 after purchasing an additional 87,679 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,041,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $150,054,000 after purchasing an additional 95,668 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,197,861 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $149,212,000 after purchasing an additional 140,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.