Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New $961,000 Investment in Aura Minerals Inc. $AUGO

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 15,269 Aura Minerals shares in the second quarter, representing a new position valued at approximately $961,000. Other institutional investors also initiated or increased holdings.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms cutting ratings or price targets. Aura Minerals has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus target price of $79.27, below its recent $85.31 share price.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently, selling 1.33 million shares worth about $108.8 million over the past three months, while Aura Minerals reported $2.57 quarterly EPS and maintained a $0.72 quarterly dividend.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aura Minerals in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Aura Minerals during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Aura Minerals by 307.7% during the 4th quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 795 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Minerals

In other Aura Minerals news, COO Glauber Luvizotto sold 64,713 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 224,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,006,103. The trade was a 22.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.95, for a total transaction of $3,717,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,316,976.45. The trade was a 33.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and have sold 1,327,222 shares worth $108,817,936.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AUGO shares. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Santander downgraded Aura Minerals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Minerals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Aura Minerals from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Minerals currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUGO opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 0.28. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.11 and a fifty-two week high of $110.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.99.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 103.62% and a net margin of 23.18%.The firm had revenue of $335.97 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

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

Aura Minerals Company 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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