Echo45 Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Echo45 Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,715 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 2,575 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,848 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU stock opened at $108.95 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $129.14. The firm has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.31.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 32.19%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AU shares. Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Freedom Capital raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.