CI Investments Inc. Has $37.27 Million Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Key Points

• CI Investments Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 234.8% in the first quarter, ending with 382,816 shares valued at about $37.27 million.
• AngloGold Ashanti reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $2.52 EPS versus the $2.27 consensus estimate, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $3.24 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.16 per share, implying an annualized yield of 5.9%, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $110.50.

CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 234.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 382,816 shares of the mining company's stock after acquiring an additional 268,462 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $37,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company's stock worth $539,119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047,686 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $426,477,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $179,286,000 after buying an additional 2,042,357 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $78.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market cap of $39.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $86.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.77. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $45.36 and a one year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti's payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AU. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.

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