AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) is Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 344,774 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 46,000 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti makes up approximately 13.4% of Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $7,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD raised its position 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 worth $75,525,000 after buying an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $6,900,000 after buying an additional 193,992 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,504.8% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 391,715 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $10,419,000 after acquiring an additional 367,306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $37.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.16. The company has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $21.65 and a 1-year high of $38.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 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.