Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stock Position in Aura Minerals Inc. $AUGO

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) by 78.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,242 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,657 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Aura Minerals were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the 1st quarter valued at about $426,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Aura Minerals by 125.1% during the first 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 last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Aura Minerals by 72.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 9,031 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Minerals during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,406,000. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $320,000.

Aura Minerals Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AUGO opened at $78.54 on Tuesday. Aura Minerals Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.63 and a 1 year high of $110.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion and a PE ratio of 22.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $335.97 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Luvizotto Glauber Rosa sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.02, for a total value of $3,751,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 290,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,802,912.56. This represents a 14.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $700,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 108,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,571,013.33. This represents a 8.47% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 359,708 shares of company stock valued at $25,754,252.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AUGO. Wall Street Zen cut Aura Minerals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Aura Minerals from $122.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.27.

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.