Lido Advisors LLC Invests $875,000 in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Lido Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,991 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $875,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,979,174,000 after purchasing an additional 252,307 shares during the period. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $488,820,000 after purchasing an additional 26,421 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $436,735,000 after buying an additional 191,859 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $78.90 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $45.36 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.44. The company has a market cap of $39.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AU shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.