Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 7,149 Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by 22.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,149 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter worth approximately $168,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 32,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 8,689 shares in the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 11,574 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 6,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 175,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 14,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total transaction of $126,047.16. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 59,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 348,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,737,363.31. This represents a 6.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HL shares. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $5.50 price target (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday, May 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.07.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 2.4%

HL stock opened at $5.81 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.82 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Hecla Mining Company has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $261.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.50 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 3.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.09%.

Hecla Mining 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.