Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Stock Price Down 7.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Aura Minerals shares fell 7.4% to about $85.92, with trading volume well below average.
• Analysts have recently lowered price targets, including Bank of America to $94 and JPMorgan to $91, though the stock retains a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target of $86.95.
• The company reported $2.57 in quarterly EPS on $335.97 million in revenue and pays a $2.88 annualized dividend, yielding approximately 3.3%; insider selling has substantially exceeded insider purchases over the past three months.

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO - Get Free Report) dropped 7.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $85.86 and last traded at $85.9150. Approximately 381,112 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 995,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AUGO shares. 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 Aura Minerals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aura Minerals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Minerals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.95.

Aura Minerals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.48 and a 200-day moving average of $75.36. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Aura Minerals's payout ratio is presently 81.36%.

Insider Activity at Aura Minerals

In related news, Director Mauad Sousa sold 73,925 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total transaction of $6,830,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,871.60. This trade represents a 85.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 263,011 shares of company stock worth $22,662,070 and sold 1,503,442 shares worth $124,687,068.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Aura Minerals by 42.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 977,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,740,000 after acquiring an additional 291,623 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aura Minerals during the 1st quarter valued at $50,378,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aura Minerals by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 496,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,021,000 after buying an additional 42,091 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Aura Minerals by 125.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,582 shares of the company's stock worth $26,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,730 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,550,000.

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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