Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,593,476 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,225,022 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.62% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $182,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after acquiring an additional 207,923 shares during the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter worth $887,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at $1,408,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 259,363 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $18,241,000 after purchasing an additional 18,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at about $3,728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $106.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $30.19 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Five 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.50.

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.