Raiffeisen Bank International AG Sells 4,990 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lessened its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,720 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 4,990 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AU. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $426,477,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $179,286,000 after buying an additional 2,042,357 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $357,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 0.1%

AU stock opened at $108.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.22. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $129.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 32.19% and a return on equity of 38.77%. Equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.