Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.52, but opened at $5.88. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $6.07, with a volume of 3,398,821 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HL. TD Securities reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.94.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -151.75 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.88.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.0138 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -125.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total value of $735,303.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The trade was a 38.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HL. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,559 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,644,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $168,027,000 after buying an additional 146,689 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,499,000 after buying an additional 711,676 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,813,000 after acquiring an additional 456,107 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.