Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $7.50 and last traded at $7.50, with a volume of 119281 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HL shares. StockNews.com downgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.56.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of -48.73 and a beta of 2.01.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $245.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.80 million. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 5.56% and a negative return on equity of 0.42%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.0138 dividend. This is a positive change from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,949. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 338,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 44,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 40,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.