AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

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

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock traded up $0.66 on Friday, hitting $43.76. 1,078,074 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,587,276. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.48. 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 50 day simple moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.04. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $22.13 and a 52 week high of $46.90.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 EPS 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, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given 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 presently 16.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 177.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,124 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 8,401 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,043 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 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.