Scotiabank Reiterates “Sector Underperform” Rating for AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU)

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU)‘s stock had its “sector underperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Scotiabank in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $30.00 target price on the mining company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $27.00. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential downside of 6.51% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AU. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $32.09 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $14.91 and a 1 year high of $32.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.23 and its 200-day moving average is $23.85.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,961 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,768 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth $520,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter worth $2,002,000. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% during the second quarter. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC now owns 683,604 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $17,179,000 after acquiring an additional 64,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 64,843 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. 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.