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

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.6250.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price objective on Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.50 to $36.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 1.4%

Hecla Mining stock opened at $23.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.26 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.07 and a 200-day moving average of $16.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.22. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.46 and a one year high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total value of $1,144,118.29. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,604.31. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total value of $4,030,679.26. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $863,324,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452,401 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $603,566,000 after acquiring an additional 12,197,740 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,278,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453,706 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,524,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,651,000 after acquiring an additional 6,472,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,574,855 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.