Stephens Inc. AR Buys New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 40,888 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,876,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter worth $1,270,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after buying an additional 207,923 shares during the period. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth about $887,000. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 8.3% during the second quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 65,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 259,363 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $18,241,000 after acquiring an additional 18,457 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Roth Capital increased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $99.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $26.78 and a one year high of $100.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%.The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. As a group, analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.18%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.