Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC Has $14.93 Million Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC lowered its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,375 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 9,103 shares during the period. AngloGold Ashanti makes up approximately 26.1% of Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $14,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,200,000 after purchasing an additional 64,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,740,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Capital dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $82.29 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.27. The company has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $45.36 and a 52 week high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 68.04%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.