Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HL shares. Roth Mkm restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, January 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total transaction of $1,144,118.29. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,746,604.31. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total value of $4,030,679.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,601,705.40. This trade represents a 18.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 426,679 shares of company stock worth $7,678,773. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 1.7% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,219,902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,261,000 after acquiring an additional 103,009 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,483,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the second quarter worth about $2,256,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 176.4% in the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 41,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 26,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

NYSE HL opened at $22.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.12. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.46 and a 52 week high of $34.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.56 and a beta of 1.28.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 16.35% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $409.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.23%.

About Hecla Mining

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.