AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Up 19.2% in March

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,270,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the March 15th total of 4,420,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:AU traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $44.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,833,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,459,100. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $21.65 and a 1 year high of $46.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.65 and a 200 day moving average of $29.44. The company has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AU. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company's stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company's stock worth $467,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882,283 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company's stock worth $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the 4th quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $63,503,000 after buying an additional 2,680,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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