Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

Shares of AUGO opened at $54.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Aura Minerals has a 52 week low of $22.24 and a 52 week high of $110.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $382.61 million for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 111.96% and a net margin of 7.80%. On average, analysts expect that Aura Minerals will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Aura Minerals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is 288.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Minerals news, CEO Rodrigo Cardoso Barbosa sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $4,885,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 794,745 shares in the company, valued at $64,716,085.35. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.95, for a total transaction of $3,717,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,316,976.45. This trade represents a 33.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 403,092 shares of company stock valued at $30,450,738 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Trading of Aura Minerals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AUGO. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Aura Minerals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Aura Minerals by 307.7% in the 4th quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,000.

Aura Minerals Company Profile

We are an Americas gold and copper production company with a significant portfolio of mining operations. Our mission is to deliver long-term value by unlocking operational efficiencies, responsibly growing our portfolio with a focus on return on invested capital, responsible mining practices and a commitment to sustainability. We operate with a decentralized culture, supported by a lean corporate team that ensures agile and dynamic management and decision-making processes, focused on high operational sustainability compliance standards.