AXQ Capital LP Raises Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

AXQ Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 6,723 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HL. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth about $18,441,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth approximately $14,623,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Hecla Mining by 43.8% during 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, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $92,499,000 after purchasing an additional 711,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $84,604.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HL opened at $5.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.23 and a 1-year high of $7.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.52 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.58 and a 200-day moving average of $5.84.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining 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.