BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 687,376 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 687,376 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 25,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 32,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HL shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. The trade was a 11.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 348,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 3.4%

HL stock opened at $5.11 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Hecla Mining has a 52-week low of $4.41 and a 52-week high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.22 and a beta of 1.57.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.50 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.09%.

Hecla Mining Company 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.