Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 55.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,916 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 7,493 shares during the quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth $35,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 454.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $90.75 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $43.44 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. Analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

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.