The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,154 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 13,532 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $10,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,979,174,000 after buying an additional 252,307 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $620,874,000 after acquiring an additional 98,250 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,820,000 after acquiring an additional 26,421 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $436,735,000 after acquiring an additional 191,859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AU. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Scotiabank decreased 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Roth Capital lowered their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of AU opened at $81.61 on Tuesday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $50.20 and a one year high of $129.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market capitalization of $41.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.66.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 39.54% and a net margin of 32.19%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.20%.

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.