Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $32,000 Investment in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,396 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $467,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882,283 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $79,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177,783 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,525,000 after acquiring an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,043,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of AU stock opened at $33.55 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.45. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12-month low of $21.65 and a 12-month high of $38.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.81.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.