Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.56.

A number of research analysts recently commented on HL shares. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 30,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $150,412.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 351,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,728,182.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,038 shares of company stock worth $1,007,445 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HL. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 14,295 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,902,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,393,000 after purchasing an additional 62,702 shares during the last quarter. SCP Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 38,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 33,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth about $13,761,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $6.77 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.38. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $3.33 and a 52 week high of $6.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of -45.13 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 5.56% and a negative return on equity of 0.42%. The firm had revenue of $245.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.0138 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently -33.33%.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold.