Lingohr Asset Management GmbH Buys New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,570 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,297,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,159 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $346,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,143,283 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,516,000 after purchasing an additional 190,782 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 76,471.4% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 10,720 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 10,706 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on 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. lowered their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU opened at $35.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.92. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.81. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a fifty-two week low of $20.30 and a fifty-two week high of $36.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is 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 43.13%.

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.