Blue Trust Inc. Buys 2,520 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 72.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,991 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,747,289 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $615,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,322 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $312,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215,741 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 395.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barings LLC now owns 1,101,183 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,818,000 after purchasing an additional 878,717 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,201,551 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,874,000 after purchasing an additional 431,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,396,000 after purchasing an additional 181,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $29.50 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52-week low of $15.60 and a 52-week high of $32.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AU shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Investec raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.