Korea Investment CORP Boosts Stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,887 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,835 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sprott Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 91,168 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,745 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,043 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $37.47 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1 year low of $21.65 and a 1 year high of $38.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.29.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.