AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AU shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU stock opened at $112.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.49. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $28.44 and a 1 year high of $115.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%. Research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.