Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 50,607 Shares of Hecla Mining Company $HL

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 740,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 50,607 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.11% of Hecla Mining worth $14,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HL. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2,390.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 255.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 4,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on HL shares. Roth Mkm set a $13.00 price target on Hecla Mining in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.63.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:HL opened at $17.91 on Wednesday. Hecla Mining Company has a 1 year low of $4.46 and a 1 year high of $34.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.56 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total value of $1,144,118.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,604.31. This represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d’Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company’s principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.