Short Interest in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Expands By 41.6%

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,591,606 shares, an increase of 41.6% from the February 26th total of 5,360,034 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,098,320 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of AU traded up $1.37 on Monday, reaching $90.54. The stock had a trading volume of 3,500,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,201,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.87. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.85.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%. Sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,979,174,000 after purchasing an additional 252,307 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,820,000 after buying an additional 26,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.