NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Buys New Shares in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,761 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at about $321,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.1% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,963 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 156.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 80,307 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 48,993 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,341.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 455,878 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,774,000 after acquiring an additional 424,259 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 4.6%

NYSE AU opened at $89.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.32 and its 200 day moving average is $87.33. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%. Research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.33.

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.