Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,780,000 shares, a decline of 11.3% from the November 30th total of 18,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. National Bank Financial downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. SPC Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter worth $67,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of HL opened at $5.01 on Monday. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $3.33 and a twelve month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.25 and a beta of 1.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.84.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $245.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.0138 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently -125.00%.

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.