Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL – Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.75 to $8.25 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a neutral rating to a buy rating and dropped their target price for the company from $6.50 to $6.25 in a research note on Wednesday, May 11th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Hecla Mining from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $7.76.

Hecla Mining stock opened at $4.42 on Wednesday. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.07 and a fifty-two week high of $9.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -27.63 and a beta of 2.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 10th. The basic materials company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 2.76% and a net margin of 2.02%. The firm had revenue of $186.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 25th will be given a $0.006 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 24th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.75%.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,590,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 290.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,683,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,326,000 after acquiring an additional 6,457,912 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,925,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,748,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033,244 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 325.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,801,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,202,053 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,451,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $331,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534,118 shares during the period. 59.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hecla Mining (Get Rating)

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, acquires, develops, and produces precious and base metal properties in the United States and internationally. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for sale to custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors,; and doré containing silver and gold.

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