4,723 Shares in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Bought by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,723 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AU. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,747,289 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $615,990,000 after buying an additional 1,948,322 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $312,940,000 after buying an additional 1,215,741 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 395.0% in the second quarter. Barings LLC now owns 1,101,183 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,818,000 after buying an additional 878,717 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 24.3% in the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,201,551 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $48,874,000 after buying an additional 431,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,396,000 after buying an additional 181,081 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $29.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12 month low of $15.60 and a 12 month high of $32.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.59.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AU shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Investec upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.67.

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.