Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 34,700 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,961,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,069 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 15,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at $271,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.4% in 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. Finally, XXI Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at $306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $86.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.19. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $43.44 and a 1 year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for 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 36.41%. As a group, analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.04%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.