AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Production Increases, Earnings Raised

Having beat Barclays' (NYSE:BCS) expectations for their latest quarter, AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had their price target and earnings raised by Barclays going forward.

"After a busy quarter in which AngloGold Ashanti issued $1.6 billion in debt and equity and began taking out the remainder of its hedgebook, the company reported results that beat our expectations. With production slightly above our forecast and a realized gold price well ahead of our assumption, AngloGold reported EPS of $0.14 and adjusted 'headline' EPS of -$3.21 (including $1.5 billion in hedgebook buy-back costs) or $0.82 excluding the hedgebook impact. We remove an $84 million application of prior period tax credits and approximate operating earnings at $0.59/share."

The earnings per share ranged for the full year 2010 was raised from $1.15 to $1.60, and for 2011 from $1.50 to $1.95.

Barclays raised their price target on AngloGold from $39 to $42. The gold miner closed Monday at $48.69, losing $0.41, or 0.84 percent. They maintained an "Equalweight" rating on them.