Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Aura Minerals “Moderate Buy”: Four of seven analysts recommend buying the stock, while three rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $86.95, with targets ranging from recent changes including Scotiabank’s $110 objective and Bank of America’s reduced $94 target.
• Aura reported solid quarterly results: The company posted earnings of $2.57 per share on $335.97 million in revenue, with a 103.62% return on equity and a 23.18% net margin.
• The quarterly dividend was reduced to $0.72 per share from $0.78, representing an annualized payout of $2.88 and a 3.5% yield. Insider activity was mixed, though insiders sold substantially more shares than they bought over the past three months.

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.95.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Santander lowered shares of Aura Minerals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Aura Minerals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Minerals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Aura Minerals in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AUGO opened at $82.02 on Thursday. Aura Minerals has a 52-week low of $29.11 and a 52-week high of $110.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.70 and a 200-day moving average of $75.65.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 103.62% and a net margin of 23.18%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aura Minerals will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. This is a negative change from Aura Minerals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Aura Minerals's payout ratio is presently 81.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aura Minerals news, Director Mauad Sousa sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.65, for a total transaction of $15,047,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $94,366.65. This represents a 99.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AUGO. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,378,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Aura Minerals by 42.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 977,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,740,000 after buying an additional 291,623 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 125.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,730 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals in the second quarter worth $10,550,000. Finally, Sagil Capital LLP purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals in the fourth quarter worth $7,864,000.

Aura Minerals Company Profile

Aura Minerals Inc is a mining company focused on the exploration, development and production of gold, copper and other associated minerals. The company operates a portfolio of mines and projects in the Americas and sells the metals produced from its operations to commercial customers.

Aura's assets include the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, the San Andrés gold mine in Honduras, and gold operations in Brazil, including the Almas and Apoena complexes. The company also has development and exploration projects intended to support future production and extend the operating life of its portfolio.

Headquartered in the Americas and listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol AUGO, Aura Minerals has built its business through the acquisition, development and operation of precious- and base-metal assets.

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.