Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Reduces Position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lessened its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,465 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 4,305 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 3.7 %

AU opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12 month low of $20.05 and a 12 month high of $34.75.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 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.