Michael L. Clary Sells 32,387 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Stock

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $5.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.42 and a 200-day moving average of $5.87. 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 twelve month low of $3.41 and a twelve month high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 101.72 and a beta of 1.91.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,440,000 after acquiring an additional 774,000 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 worth $391,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,559 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 100.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,289,000 after purchasing an additional 39,421 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,453,000 after buying an additional 502,094 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.