Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 10,706 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 76,471.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,720 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 10,706 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AU. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 16,770 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 95.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 247,292 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,585,000 after purchasing an additional 120,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,900,000 after acquiring an additional 193,992 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $277,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,304 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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 restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $32.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.27 and a 200-day moving average of $27.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a twelve month low of $20.05 and a twelve month high of $33.77.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

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.