Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Takes Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 113,601 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,060,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,139,000. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,523,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 606.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,054 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 11,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 122,885 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,556,000 after buying an additional 14,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Roth Capital decreased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 2.0%

AU opened at $78.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $45.36 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The firm has a market cap of $39.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.65.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s 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.