Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Shares Down 5.1% – Time to Sell?

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) shares were down 5.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $79.90 and last traded at $80.24. 370,701 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 982,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AUGO shares. Zacks Research downgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Santander downgraded Aura Minerals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Stock Down 3.7%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion and a PE ratio of 22.99.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 103.62% and a net margin of 23.18%.The firm had revenue of $335.97 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 5.5 EPS 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 $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.36%.

Insider Transactions at Aura Minerals

In related news, COO Luvizotto Glauber Rosa sold 64,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 224,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,006,103. This represents a 22.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.95, for a total transaction of $3,717,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,316,976.45. This 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 have sold 1,042,222 shares of company stock valued at $84,804,962 over the last quarter.

Institutional Trading of Aura Minerals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AUGO. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Aura Minerals by 42.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 977,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,740,000 after buying an additional 291,623 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,108,000. Sagil Capital LLP bought a new stake in Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,864,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 125.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,286,000.

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.