Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank upgraded Aura Minerals to “strong buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “moderate buy” with an average price target of $86.95.
• Aura Minerals shares rose 3.2% to $88.71, and the company recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.57 on revenue of $335.97 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers over the past 90 days, selling approximately $118.3 million in stock compared with $22.7 million in purchases.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Scotiabank to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on AUGO. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aura Minerals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aura Minerals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Aura Minerals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Santander downgraded shares of Aura Minerals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AUGO opened at $88.71 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.27.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 103.62% and a net margin of 23.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aura Minerals will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 7,934 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total value of $635,672.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 98,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,860,653.32. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mauad Sousa sold 54,991 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total transaction of $4,806,213.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,121,496. This represents a 43.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,435,840 shares worth $118,268,784.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management increased its holdings in Aura Minerals by 32.4% in the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals during the 4th quarter worth about $134,000. Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 1st quarter worth about $245,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 4th quarter worth about $183,000. Finally, Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 1st quarter valued at about $306,000.

About Aura Minerals

Aura Minerals Inc is a mining company focused on the exploration, development, and production of precious and base metals. Its operations primarily produce gold, with copper and silver recovered as additional products from certain deposits. The company sells its output in the form of gold doré and metal concentrates.

Aura's operating portfolio includes the Almas and Apoena gold operations in Brazil, the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, and the San Andrés gold mine in Honduras.

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