IFP Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 4,107,533.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,458 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 246,452 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc owned 0.06% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $21,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth approximately $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after buying an additional 64,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,740,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE AU opened at $89.24 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $42.17 and a 1-year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 37.17% and a net margin of 31.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 101.47%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.