AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in AngloGold Ashanti dropped by 39.3% in September, with total shares shorting totaling 7,650,000 as of September 30th.
• The company recently announced a semi-annual dividend increase to $0.80 per share, up from $0.69, with a yield of 610.0%.
• AngloGold Ashanti's stock price saw a 1.8% increase recently, with analysts setting target prices ranging from $55.00 to $76.00.

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 7,650,000 shares, a drop of 39.3% from the September 15th total of 12,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the mining company's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.3% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 91,793 shares of the mining company's stock worth $4,183,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.3% during the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,399 shares of the mining company's stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,878 shares of the mining company's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of AU opened at $75.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.60 and a 200 day moving average of $52.10. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $22.45 and a 52-week high of $79.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%.The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Capital set a $76.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.00.

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.

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