Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives $7.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.75.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HL shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HL opened at $5.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.32 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.73.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. 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 modified their holdings of HL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,440,000 after purchasing an additional 774,000 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after buying an additional 39,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,453,000 after buying an additional 502,094 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Hecla Mining by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,944,000 after buying an additional 289,865 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.