Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 26.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 65,002 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 19,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 433,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 21,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 471,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 3,632 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, Director George R. Johnson purchased 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.07 per share, for a total transaction of $34,595.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 25,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,896.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 2.5 %

Hecla Mining stock opened at $4.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of -49.83 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.15 and a 200 day moving average of $5.49. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $3.41 and a one year high of $7.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 6.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.23%. The firm had revenue of $178.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.03 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.0063 per share. This represents a $0.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 23rd. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. 58.com restated a “downgrade” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, May 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $10.00 to $9.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, National Bank Financial started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.50 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.84.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides 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.