AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Position Trimmed by Aubrey Capital Management Ltd

Aubrey Capital Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 69.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,000 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 11,411 shares during the quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,013,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 63,149 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,148,000 after acquiring an additional 5,277 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth about $397,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 44.9% in the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 130,445 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $12,700,000 after acquiring an additional 40,445 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AU. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.83.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AU opened at $80.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.65. 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 PLC has a 1 year low of $45.36 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.30 and a 200-day moving average of $97.13.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. Equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

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.