AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Up 8.0% in January

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,550,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 31st total of 5,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AU shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Investec raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.75.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AU traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.21. 406,078 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,333,610. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $16.49 and a twelve month high of $32.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.21.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,103 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,745 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,043 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,581 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.