AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 251,221 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $5,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 10.3 %

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $42.84 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $21.65 and a 52 week high of $43.23. The stock has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. On average, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.