Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $63.37, but opened at $60.29. Aura Minerals shares last traded at $59.4130, with a volume of 141,338 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Minerals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.60.

Aura Minerals Trading Down 6.0%

The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.42 and its 200 day moving average is $72.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $382.61 million for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 111.96% and a net margin of 7.80%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This is a positive change from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 288.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Minerals news, CEO Rodrigo Cardoso Barbosa sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $4,885,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 794,745 shares in the company, valued at $64,716,085.35. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,316,976.45. The trade was a 33.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 403,092 shares of company stock valued at $30,450,738.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Minerals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AUGO. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in Aura Minerals by 307.7% during the 4th quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Aura Minerals during the third quarter worth approximately $108,000.

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.