Financial Review: Fresnillo (OTCMKTS:FNLPF) vs. Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Fresnillo (OTCMKTS:FNLPF) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Fresnillo has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hecla Mining has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Fresnillo and Hecla Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fresnillo	0	3	0	1	2.50
Hecla Mining	0	5	2	0	2.29

Hecla Mining has a consensus target price of $7.3571, suggesting a potential downside of 6.62%. Given Hecla Mining’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hecla Mining is more favorable than Fresnillo.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fresnillo and Hecla Mining”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fresnillo	$3.50 billion	4.79	$140.92 million	N/A	N/A
Hecla Mining	$929.92 million	5.68	$35.80 million	$0.16	49.24

Fresnillo has higher revenue and earnings than Hecla Mining.

Dividends

Fresnillo pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Hecla Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining pays out 6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

63.0% of Hecla Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Hecla Mining shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Fresnillo and Hecla Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fresnillo	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hecla Mining	9.55%	5.51%	3.80%

Summary

Hecla Mining beats Fresnillo on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fresnillo

Fresnillo plc mines, develops, and produces non-ferrous minerals in Mexico. It operates through seven segments: Fresnillo, Saucito, Ciénega, Herradura, Noche Buena, San Julián, and Juanicipio. The company primarily explores for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates. Its projects include the Fresnillo silver mine located in the state of Zacatecas; Saucito silver mine situated in the state of Zacatecas; Ciénega gold mine located in the state of Durango; Herradura gold mine situated in the state of Sonora; Noche Buena gold mine located in the state of Sonora; San Julián silver-gold mine situated on the border of Chihuahua/Durango states; and Juanicipio mine located in the state of Zacatecas. It also leases mining equipment; produces gold/silver doré bars; and provides administrative services. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. Fresnillo plc operates as a subsidiary of Industrias Peñoles, S.A.B. de C.V.

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. It flagship project is the Greens Creek mine located on Admiralty Island in southeast Alaska. Hecla Mining Company was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.