Burney Co. Makes New $2.50 Million Investment in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Burney Co. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 35,530 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,499,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 16.0% in the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 109,922 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after buying an additional 15,137 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,632 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 8,019 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 396,602 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $14,722,000 after buying an additional 97,724 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 185,793 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,964,000 after buying an additional 39,485 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AU. Scotiabank upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $91.25 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $22.45 and a one year high of $91.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. On average, analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.18%.

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.