Oxbow Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Oxbow Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,235 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.0% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,103 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,745 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,043 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,581 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,080 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:AU opened at $31.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.69. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $17.01 and a 1-year high of $33.77.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.