SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC Purchases New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,772 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 229.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,593 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 104.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 109,211 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $9,314,000 after acquiring an additional 55,812 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,041 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $83.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.26. The stock has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $43.44 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.