Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Aura Minerals in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Santander lowered shares of Aura Minerals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research raised Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aura Minerals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

Shares of AUGO opened at $66.24 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.91 and a 200-day moving average of $75.68. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.06. Aura Minerals has a 1 year low of $31.15 and a 1 year high of $110.32.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 103.62%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aura Minerals will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a negative change from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is 81.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 224,515 shares in the company, valued at $18,006,103. The trade was a 22.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the director owned 168,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,783,037.55. This represents a 62.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,568,065 shares worth $133,318,052.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AUGO. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Aura Minerals by 31.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aura Minerals by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 69,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,485,000 after purchasing an additional 20,472 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000.

About Aura Minerals

Aura Minerals Inc is a mining company focused on the exploration, development, and operation of gold, copper, and other precious and base-metal properties in the Americas. The company’s activities span the full mining life cycle, including resource evaluation, mine development, production, processing, and exploration for additional mineral deposits.

Aura’s portfolio has included the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico; the San Andrés gold mine in Honduras; and gold operations in Brazil, including the Almas and São Francisco mines.