Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 5,700 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 146,593 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $12,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AU. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $91.82 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $42.17 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.76.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 37.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.47%.

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.