AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AU. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU traded up $3.66 on Friday, reaching $47.47. 4,135,358 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,955,877. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.48. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $22.13 and a 52 week high of $47.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.51.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 11,353 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the mining company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.7% during the first quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 38,529 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 91,168 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.