Forefront Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 18,016 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,545 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,016 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti accounts for approximately 2.1% of Forefront Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Forefront Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $2,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 579.2% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.60.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of AU stock opened at $68.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $22.45 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.83.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.06). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.