National Bank of Canada FI Invests $20.31 Million in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 880,018 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,311,000. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.21% of AngloGold Ashanti at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $467,795,000 after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $45,043,000. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $36.94 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $21.65 and a 52 week high of $38.63.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.