Stephens Inc. AR Purchases Shares of 40,888 AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 40,888 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,876,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AU. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 27.2% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,257 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.3% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 91,793 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE AU opened at $99.15 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $26.78 and a 52 week high of $100.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

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.