AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Stake Increased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,592 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $7,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AU. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,310,000 after acquiring an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,139,000. Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 770,670 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $54,201,000 after purchasing an additional 16,828 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,523,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.8%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $81.56 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $43.44 and a one year high of $129.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $93.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $41.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.60.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AU shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.80.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.