Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives $7.75 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.75.

Several analysts recently commented on HL shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,372.16. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,440,000 after buying an additional 774,000 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,999,000 after buying an additional 7,960,826 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after acquiring an additional 39,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 502,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,944,000 after acquiring an additional 289,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $5.75 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.50 and its 200-day moving average is $5.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 114.92 and a beta of 1.94. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.04 and a 1-year high of $7.68.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.