AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Stock Position Raised by L2 Asset Management LLC

L2 Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,344 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 9,126 shares during the period. L2 Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 454.1% during 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. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth about $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 7.1%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $92.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $43.44 and a 52-week high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AU. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.00.

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.