Investors Buy High Volume of Hecla Mining Call Options (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 43,937 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 85% compared to the average daily volume of 23,721 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HL. CIBC boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price objective on Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.36.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $11.23 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.99. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $4.46 and a 12 month high of $11.90.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 9.55%.The firm had revenue of $304.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.02 EPS. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.25%.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $163,388.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 73,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,428. This trade represents a 16.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,360,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,144,000 after buying an additional 4,928,130 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,410,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 869.3% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 3,274,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after buying an additional 2,936,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,509,000 after buying an additional 2,574,855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.