Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires New Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 53,827 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,426,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3,127.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 561,331 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $20,911,000 after acquiring an additional 543,936 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 14,994 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,036 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 697,273 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,883,000 after purchasing an additional 136,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 91,508 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,397,000 after buying an additional 6,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AU. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 0.5%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $89.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.11 and its 200-day moving average is $63.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 0.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $91.00.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.18%.

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.