Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $406,000 in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,573 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,900,000 after purchasing an additional 193,992 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,043,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU stock opened at $33.13 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.58. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12-month low of $21.65 and a 12-month high of $38.63. The firm has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35 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.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results 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, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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