Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has invested approximately $3.45 million in AngloGold Ashanti PLC by acquiring 92,451 shares during the first quarter.
• AngloGold Ashanti recently reported earnings of $0.88 per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates with revenues of $1.93 billion.
• Despite cutting its dividend to $0.125 per share, AngloGold Ashanti maintains a dividend payout ratio of 16.45% and a yield of 1.14%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 92,451 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $3,452,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,939 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,623 shares during the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,754,409 shares of the mining company's stock worth $65,124,000 after purchasing an additional 319,783 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 84.2% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 127,220 shares of the mining company's stock worth $4,722,000 after purchasing an additional 58,169 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 244,143 shares of the mining company's stock worth $9,063,000 after purchasing an additional 11,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.08.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU stock traded up $2.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.79. 4,254,255 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,375,209. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $22.45 and a one year high of $51.93. The stock has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a yield of 114.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.