Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Invests $1.14 Million in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 13,356 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth about $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after acquiring an additional 64,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter valued at about $1,740,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.2%

AU opened at $92.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.12 and its 200 day moving average is $93.05. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $38.61 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 0.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.20.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.