Aura Minerals Inc. $AUGO Shares Purchased by Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Key Points

• Absolute Gestao de Investimentos increased its Aura Minerals stake by 1,379.1% in the second quarter, adding 51,717 shares to hold 55,467 shares worth approximately $3.49 million.
• Institutional interest was broadly positive, although Aura Minerals insiders sold substantially more stock than they purchased over the past 90 days, with net insider sales totaling about $86.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $79.27 price target, while shares recently opened at $84.91. The company reported $2.57 in quarterly EPS and pays an annualized dividend of $2.88 per share, yielding about 3.4%.

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its stake in shares of Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO - Free Report) by 1,379.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,467 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,717 shares during the period. Aura Minerals comprises approximately 0.3% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned 0.07% of Aura Minerals worth $3,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,494,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 291,623 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 877,211 shares of the company's stock worth $44,225,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Aura Minerals by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 623,662 shares of the company's stock worth $31,439,000 after purchasing an additional 153,828 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 1st quarter worth about $50,378,000.

Insider Activity at Aura Minerals

In related news, Director Mauad Sousa sold 127,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.20, for a total value of $10,353,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 163,366 shares in the company, valued at $13,265,319.20. This represents a 43.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 7,934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total transaction of $635,672.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 98,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,860,653.32. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,327,222 shares worth $108,817,936.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AUGO. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aura Minerals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Santander lowered Aura Minerals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Price Performance

NASDAQ AUGO opened at $84.91 on Monday. Aura Minerals Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.11 and a 52 week high of $110.32. 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 cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.74.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 103.62% and a net margin of 23.18%.The company had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Aura Minerals's payout ratio is currently 81.36%.

Aura Minerals Profile

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.

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