EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,504 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,186,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at $24,741,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at $37,451,000. Man Group plc raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 117.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,046,670 shares of the mining company's stock worth $47,237,000 after purchasing an additional 756,801 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AU shares. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.60.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $66.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,507,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,013,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.99. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $22.45 and a 1 year high of $66.45. The company has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.21.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

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.