Groupe la Francaise Acquires 74,855 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 39.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,855 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 74,855 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $25,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the second 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. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after purchasing an additional 64,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,740,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $82.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.65. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $45.36 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Capital reduced 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, June 24th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.50.

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.