AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Roth Capital lowered their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $76.30 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $45.36 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The company has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.96.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.