Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $6.87 Million Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 273,491 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $6,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AU. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 36.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 108.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,215 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth approximately $118,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AU shares. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $29.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $32.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.