Rakuten Securities Inc. Increases Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 76,471.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,720 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,706 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 232,629 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,369,000 after buying an additional 22,654 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 1,653,726 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,168,000 after purchasing an additional 599,266 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $439,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $1,912,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU opened at $32.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12-month low of $20.05 and a 12-month high of $33.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.27 and its 200 day moving average is $27.67.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.