Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC by purchasing 24,481 shares valued at approximately $1,116,000 in Q2.
• Several analysts have recently updated their ratings on AngloGold Ashanti, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.00.
• AngloGold Ashanti increased its semi-annual dividend to $0.80, representing a yield of 610.0%, a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.69.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,481 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $1,116,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AU. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 579.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the mining company's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AU shares. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE AU opened at $71.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $22.45 and a 52 week high of $77.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for 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, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

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