RFG Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

RFG Advisory LLC cut its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,590 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 10,896 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $1,380,472,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after buying an additional 1,804,620 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,544,918 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $178,984,000 after buying an additional 1,417,775 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter worth about $87,236,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.20.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $107.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.71 and its 200 day moving average is $93.62. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $38.61 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.