Prudential PLC Grows Position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Prudential PLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,364 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $1,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $6,900,000 after acquiring an additional 193,992 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $45,043,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $33.55 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12 month low of $21.65 and a 12 month high of $38.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.81. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.56 and its 200 day moving average is $28.47.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

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.