Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC by 31.3% during the first quarter, now owning 3,527,749 shares valued at approximately $130.9 million.
• AngloGold Ashanti's quarterly earnings report revealed earnings per share of $1.25, which missed the consensus estimate of $1.31, while the company reported revenues of $2.45 billion.
• The company recently declared a $0.80 dividend to be paid on September 5th, increasing from the previous dividend of $0.69, with an impressive dividend yield of 610.0%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 31.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,527,749 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 1,605,995 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.84% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $130,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth about $63,186,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $24,741,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,569,868 shares of the mining company's stock worth $59,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,335 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth about $37,451,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7,804.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 930,781 shares of the mining company's stock worth $21,482,000 after purchasing an additional 919,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.60.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $54.8710 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.13. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $22.45 and a 1 year high of $59.19. The stock has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.30%.

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.

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