Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Stock Lifted to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Aura Minerals from “hold” to “buy.” Other analysts’ views are mixed, but the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $86.95.
• Aura Minerals shares opened at $83.57, up 0.6%, with a $7.0 billion market capitalization. The company reported quarterly earnings of $2.57 per share on revenue of $335.97 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: over the past 90 days, they sold 1.65 million shares worth $138.3 million, compared with purchases of 263,011 shares valued at $22.7 million.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America cut their price target on Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Aura Minerals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Scotiabank started coverage on Aura Minerals in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Santander lowered Aura Minerals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Minerals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Trading Up 0.6%

AUGO stock opened at $83.57 on Friday. Aura Minerals has a 52 week low of $29.11 and a 52 week high of $110.32. The company has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $76.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.46. 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 (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 103.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aura Minerals will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aura Minerals

In related news, Director Mauad Sousa sold 280,000 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.67, for a total value of $22,867,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 168,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,783,037.55. This trade represents a 62.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Glauber Luvizotto sold 64,713 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 224,515 shares in the company, valued at $18,006,103. This trade represents a 22.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days, insiders bought 263,011 shares of company stock valued at $22,662,070 and sold 1,647,075 shares valued at $138,275,074.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Minerals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Triumph Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in Aura Minerals by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 8,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Aura Minerals by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new stake in Aura Minerals in the first quarter valued at approximately $245,000.

Aura Minerals Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.