Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 23.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,805 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 80,859 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $25,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of AU opened at $79.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $45.36 and a 12-month high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti 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.