Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,348 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 33,090 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AU. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $81.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.44. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $43.44 and a 1 year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for 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%. Research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.80.

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.