Zacks Research Upgrades Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) to “Hold”

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AUGO. Wall Street Zen cut Aura Minerals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Bank of America cut their price target on Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Santander lowered Aura Minerals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AUGO opened at $85.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 0.28. Aura Minerals has a twelve month low of $29.11 and a twelve month high of $110.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $335.97 million during the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 103.62%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aura Minerals will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aura Minerals

In other Aura Minerals news, COO Glauber Luvizotto sold 64,713 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.20, for a total transaction of $5,189,982.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mauad Sousa sold 127,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.20, for a total transaction of $10,353,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 163,366 shares in the company, valued at $13,265,319.20. This trade represents a 43.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,327,222 shares worth $108,817,936.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AUGO. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals in the third quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Aura Minerals during the third quarter worth $1,476,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Aura Minerals during the third quarter worth $145,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the third quarter worth $3,947,000.

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.