AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Position Trimmed by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 36.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 165,301 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 95,096 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $13,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AU. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth approximately $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth $1,740,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.1%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $107.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $129.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.24. The company has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.74.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). The business 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 38.77% and a net margin of 32.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 6.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AU. Roth Capital reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

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.