Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Stock Falls 7.4% on Insider Selling

Shares of Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUGO) were down 7.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $85.86 and last traded at $85.9150. 381,112 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 995,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.77.

Specifically, Director Mauad Sousa sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.65, for a total value of $15,047,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,366.65. This trade represents a 99.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mauad Sousa sold 73,925 shares of Aura Minerals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total value of $6,830,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,871.60. The trade was a 85.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AUGO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aura Minerals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Minerals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised Aura Minerals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Aura Minerals from $104.50 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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 firm has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.40.

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aura Minerals Inc. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aura Minerals Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. This is a decrease from Aura Minerals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Aura Minerals’s payout ratio is 81.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Minerals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Triumph Capital Management increased its position in Aura Minerals by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aura Minerals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the first quarter worth approximately $245,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the fourth quarter worth $183,000. Finally, Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Minerals during the first quarter worth $306,000.

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.