Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 683,604 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,993 shares during the period. AngloGold Ashanti accounts for 16.1% of Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $17,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 52.8% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,424,939 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,632,000 after purchasing an additional 492,358 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,874,951 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $109,803,000 after buying an additional 446,132 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,396,000 after buying an additional 181,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 748.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 45,142 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 39,819 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $28.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.