Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AUGO. Zacks Research downgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AUGO stock opened at $83.58 on Friday. Aura Minerals has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month high of $110.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.60 and a 200-day moving average of $74.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 103.62%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aura Minerals will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Aura Minerals’s payout ratio is 81.36%.

Insider Transactions at Aura Minerals

In related news, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 7,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total transaction of $635,672.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 98,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,860,653.32. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mauad Bruno Sousa sold 120,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $10,680,956.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 75,356 shares in the company, valued at $6,665,238.20. This trade represents a 61.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,042,222 shares of company stock worth $84,804,962 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 2nd quarter worth about $446,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its holdings in Aura Minerals by 1,379.1% during the second quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 55,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,492,000 after purchasing an additional 51,717 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Aura Minerals during the second quarter worth about $86,494,000. Triumph Capital Management increased its position in Aura Minerals by 32.4% during the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Aura Minerals during the second quarter worth approximately $495,000.

About Aura Minerals

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.