AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Up 38.1% in September

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,400,000 shares, a growth of 38.1% from the September 15th total of 5,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,790,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AU. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 7.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,747,289 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $615,990,000 after buying an additional 1,948,322 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $312,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215,741 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 395.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barings LLC now owns 1,101,183 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $27,818,000 after purchasing an additional 878,717 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,201,551 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $48,874,000 after purchasing an additional 431,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,032,491 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $37,987,000 after purchasing an additional 379,701 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.18. The company had a trading volume of 3,432,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,375,945. The business's 50-day moving average is $28.72 and its 200-day moving average is $26.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $15.60 and a 52 week high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.67.

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.

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