Polianta Ltd Boosts Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Polianta Ltd increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 35.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,000 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. Polianta Ltd’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $1,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $426,477,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $179,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042,357 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE AU opened at $96.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.66. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $52.05 and a 1-year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.77.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 39.54% and a net margin of 32.19%. On average, equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 38.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.