Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on AUGO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank started coverage on Aura Minerals in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Santander lowered Aura Minerals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. 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 data from MarketBeat, Aura Minerals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUGO opened at $81.31 on Friday. Aura Minerals has a 1 year low of $33.91 and a 1 year high of $110.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.50 and its 200 day moving average is $76.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Aura Minerals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Glauber Luvizotto sold 64,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.20, for a total value of $5,189,982.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 224,515 shares in the company, valued at $18,006,103. This trade represents a 22.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mauad Sousa sold 280,000 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.67, for a total transaction of $22,867,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 168,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,783,037.55. This trade represents a 62.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 263,011 shares of company stock valued at $22,662,070 and sold 1,458,065 shares valued at $125,361,752.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Aura Minerals by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 977,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,740,000 after purchasing an additional 291,623 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Aura Minerals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,378,000. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its position in Aura Minerals by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 473,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,231,000 after buying an additional 66,190 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Aura Minerals by 125.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,241,000 after buying an additional 178,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Aura Minerals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,550,000.

About Aura Minerals

Aura Minerals is a mining company focused on exploring, developing and operating gold and copper properties in the Americas. Its operations also produce silver as a byproduct at some sites. The company’s portfolio includes mines and projects in Brazil, Mexico and Honduras. Its activities span the mining lifecycle, from resource exploration and project development to the production and sale of metals. Aura Minerals is led by Chief Executive Officer Rodrigo Barbosa. The company has expanded its portfolio over time through mine development and acquisitions.