Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 12,755 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,793 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 12,755 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $8,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AU. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut 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 research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of AU stock opened at $89.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $42.17 and a 52 week high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.42.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 37.17%. Analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.47%.

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.