Strs Ohio Sells 62,806 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 13.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 402,435 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 62,806 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $39,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU opened at $84.55 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $44.67 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.91 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 68.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.80.

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.