BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Invests $2.13 Million in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 26,380 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $620,874,000 after purchasing an additional 98,250 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $488,820,000 after purchasing an additional 26,421 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $436,735,000 after purchasing an additional 191,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $426,477,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,684,560 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $419,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,822 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $113.38 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $55.08 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 39.54% and a net margin of 32.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.