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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $27.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.85 and its 200 day moving average is $27.24. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $15.80 and a 1 year high of $32.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,920,684 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $610,378,000 after acquiring an additional 80,563 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $277,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,304 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,251,492 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,327,000 after acquiring an additional 768,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.