Handelsbanken Fonder AB Invests $464,000 in Aura Minerals Inc. $AUGO

Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals in the fourth quarter worth $849,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals in the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Ashoka WhiteOak Capital Pte Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aura Minerals by 270.3% in the fourth quarter. Ashoka WhiteOak Capital Pte Ltd now owns 87,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,425,000 after purchasing an additional 63,530 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new position in Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,108,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Aura Minerals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,286,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mauad Bruno Sousa sold 38,384 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.95, for a total transaction of $3,222,336.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 576,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,436,883.35. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rodrigo Cardoso Barbosa sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $4,885,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 794,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,716,085.35. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 178,036 shares of company stock valued at $14,349,621 over the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AUGO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Aura Minerals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Aura Minerals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.60.

Aura Minerals Stock Performance

AUGO opened at $75.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.60 and a 200 day moving average of $67.39. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.24 and a fifty-two week high of $110.32.

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

Aura Minerals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Aura Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 288.89%.

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.