Townsquare Capital LLC Buys New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,943 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company's stock worth $467,795,000 after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company's stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the 4th quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company's stock worth $79,838,000 after buying an additional 2,177,783 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $45,043,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $20,311,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock traded up $1.64 on Monday, hitting $41.24. 2,571,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,491,044. The firm has a market cap of $17.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.81. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $22.13 and a 52 week high of $46.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.