Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $60.50, but opened at $63.85. Aura Minerals shares last traded at $63.6470, with a volume of 82,514 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.60.

Aura Minerals Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $999.00 EPS for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 111.96% and a net margin of 7.80%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This is a boost from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Aura Minerals’s payout ratio is currently 288.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Luvizotto Glauber Rosa sold 22,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.27, for a total value of $1,459,894.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 411,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,887,193.26. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mauad Bruno Sousa acquired 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.95 per share, with a total value of $181,860.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 437,765 shares in the company, valued at $28,432,836.75. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 384,082 shares of company stock valued at $29,210,716.

Institutional Trading of Aura Minerals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Aura Minerals in the third quarter valued at about $60,284,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the third quarter worth about $29,988,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,097,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,378,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,623,000.

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.