Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aura Minerals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.27.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AUGO opened at $54.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.26 and a 200 day moving average of $72.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46. Aura Minerals has a 52 week low of $22.24 and a 52 week high of $110.32.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aura Minerals had a return on equity of 111.96% and a net margin of 7.80%.The business had revenue of $382.61 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aura Minerals will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Minerals news, Director Mauad Bruno Sousa purchased 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.95 per share, with a total value of $181,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 437,765 shares in the company, valued at $28,432,836.75. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Santos Cardoso Joao Kleber Dos sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.95, for a total value of $3,717,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,316,976.45. This represents a 33.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 403,092 shares of company stock valued at $30,450,738.

Institutional Trading of Aura Minerals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AUGO. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new position in Aura Minerals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,298,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the first quarter worth $3,645,000. Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the first quarter worth $245,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the first quarter valued at $306,000.

About Aura Minerals

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.