Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Purchases New Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,700 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth about $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 579.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AU. Scotiabank increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $79.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.11. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 11th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 80.18%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.