Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Shares Up 7.9% – Here’s Why

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO)’s share price shot up 7.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $60.88 and last traded at $61.0260. 451,832 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 960,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AUGO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aura Minerals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aura Minerals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Aura Minerals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.60.

Aura Minerals Stock Up 7.6%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.30. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $999.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 111.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aura Minerals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 288.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mauad Bruno Sousa bought 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.95 per share, with a total value of $181,860.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 437,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,432,836.75. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rodrigo Cardoso Barbosa sold 55,000 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.63, for a total transaction of $4,544,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 739,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,125,129.35. This trade represents a 6.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 310,392 shares of company stock valued at $24,588,386 in the last three months.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AUGO. Citigroup Inc. bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter worth $1,997,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,097,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter worth $16,901,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter worth $1,819,000. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 3rd quarter worth $60,284,000.

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.