Banco Santander S.A. Sells 8,442 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,442 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,499,000 after buying an additional 711,676 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,453,000 after purchasing an additional 502,094 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 43.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,481,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,798,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,739,000 after purchasing an additional 232,425 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm cut their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.00.

Insider Activity

In other Hecla Mining news, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,372.16. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.17 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.32 and a beta of 1.94. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.04 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

About Hecla Mining

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.