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 report issued on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AUGO. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research raised Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Santander downgraded Aura Minerals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aura Minerals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AUGO opened at $84.25 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.48. Aura Minerals has a 12-month low of $29.11 and a 12-month high of $110.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.62.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 103.62%. The firm had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Aura Minerals will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. This is a drop from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Minerals

In related news, Director Mauad Sousa sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.65, for a total transaction of $15,047,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,366.65. This trade represents a 99.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,568,065 shares worth $133,318,052.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Aura Minerals by 145.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 129,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after acquiring an additional 76,910 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Aura Minerals by 522.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 616 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the second quarter worth about $10,550,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 56.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the second quarter worth about $446,000.

About Aura Minerals

Aura Minerals Inc is a mining company focused on the exploration, development, and operation of gold, copper, and other precious and base-metal properties in the Americas. The company’s activities span the full mining life cycle, including resource evaluation, mine development, production, processing, and exploration for additional mineral deposits.

Aura’s portfolio has included the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico; the San Andrés gold mine in Honduras; and gold operations in Brazil, including the Almas and São Francisco mines.