Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC Takes Position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 24,543 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at $406,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $45,043,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,627 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,808,000 after purchasing an additional 122,507 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $43.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a fifty-two week low of $21.66 and a fifty-two week high of $46.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.07 and a 200-day moving average of $29.66. The stock has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, 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 announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.