AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU is Oaktree Capital Management LP’s 5th Largest Position

Oaktree Capital Management LP lowered its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,947,737 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 517,114 shares during the period. AngloGold Ashanti makes up approximately 3.9% of Oaktree Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Oaktree Capital Management LP’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $225,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AU. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth about $1,270,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after purchasing an additional 207,923 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 102.6% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,101 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 6,636 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 56,545 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 18,016 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth about $5,538,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.83.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU opened at $83.37 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.09. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $22.45 and a 1-year high of $89.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 11th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.50% and a net margin of 26.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 80.18%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.