Alps Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 185.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 539,471 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 350,511 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $46,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AU. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 454.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 6.3%

AU opened at $83.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $43.44 and a 12 month high of $129.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.26.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 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 analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 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.