AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,540,000 shares, a drop of 6.0% from the January 15th total of 4,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $32.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $16.82 and a one year high of $33.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,525,000 after acquiring an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,900,000 after acquiring an additional 193,992 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,504.8% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 391,715 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,419,000 after acquiring an additional 367,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $45,043,000. 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.