AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Up 24.9% in September

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,360,000 shares, a growth of 24.9% from the August 31st total of 4,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the mining company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 108.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,215 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth about $118,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 5.0 %

AU traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,172,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,936,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.78. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 2.58 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, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank restated a "sector underperform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.