AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Purchased by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC by 32.7%, acquiring an additional 97,724 shares, bringing their total to 396,602 shares valued at approximately $14.72 million.
• AngloGold Ashanti has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with the stock being downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price from $58 to $63 and maintained an "overweight" rating.
• The company declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.80 per share, representing a significant increase from the previous $0.69 dividend, reflecting strong performance with a current dividend yield of 610%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 396,602 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 97,724 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $14,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $77,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.60.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock traded up $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,206,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,661,629. The company has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 0.54. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $22.45 and a 12-month high of $60.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

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 company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a yield of 610.0%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.