12,082 AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 409.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,030 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,082 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,848,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,152,000. Carrhae Capital LLP boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 199.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 756,610 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $61,202,000 after purchasing an additional 503,644 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 800,951 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $77,981,000 after purchasing an additional 387,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $87.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.29. The firm has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.07. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $73.40 and a 1 year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The mining company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.22). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 32.63% and a return on equity of 39.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a $0.1250 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This is a negative change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 6.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AU. Zacks Research raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $111.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.35.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops and operates gold mines. Gold is its primary product, and the company also produces silver and other by-products at some operations. The company’s operations and projects span Africa, Australia and the Americas. Its portfolio includes mines and development projects in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 1998 through the consolidation of gold mining interests held by Anglo American in South Africa.