AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.75.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AU. Investec raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of AU opened at $26.48 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $15.80 and a 52-week high of $32.57. The stock has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 119,454 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 9,050 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,428,000. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,279 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.1% in the second quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 14,100 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barings LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 395.0% in the second quarter. Barings LLC now owns 1,101,183 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,818,000 after buying an additional 878,717 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.