Scotiabank Cuts AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target to $128.00

Key Points

• Scotiabank lowered its price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134 to $128 while keeping a “sector outperform” rating, implying about 59.8% upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment on the stock remains generally positive overall, with MarketBeat showing a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $110.83.
• AngloGold Ashanti’s latest quarterly results beat profit expectations, reporting $2.52 EPS versus estimates of $2.27, even as revenue came in slightly below forecasts.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by Scotiabank from $134.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the mining company's stock. Scotiabank's target price points to a potential upside of 59.79% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Roth Capital dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Freedom Capital raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.83.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.4%

AU stock traded up $0.34 on Tuesday, reaching $80.11. 1,325,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,025,306. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $45.36 and a one year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $40.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. Research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $539,119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $426,477,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company's stock worth $179,286,000 after buying an additional 2,042,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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