Ascent Group LLC Purchases New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC, purchasing 6,214 shares valued at approximately $231,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on AngloGold Ashanti, with four having a Buy rating, one a Hold, and two a Sell, along with a current consensus target price of $49.60.
• AngloGold Ashanti recently increased its semi-annual dividend from $0.69 to $0.80 per share, representing a yield of 610.0%.

Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,214 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AU. Northern Trust Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $7,262,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,135 shares of the mining company's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 613,889 shares of the mining company's stock worth $14,169,000 after purchasing an additional 50,071 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,095,964 shares of the mining company's stock worth $24,452,000 after purchasing an additional 80,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,549,978 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $35,773,000 after buying an additional 835,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company's stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:AU traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $64.47. 938,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,136,739. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.54.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.60.

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.