Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Short Interest Update

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 23,960,000 shares, an increase of 49.3% from the February 13th total of 16,050,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 16,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on HL. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Hecla Mining stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $5.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,899,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,743,412. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.50 and a 200-day moving average of $5.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.72 and a beta of 1.94. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $4.04 and a twelve month high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $84,604.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,999,000 after buying an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $18,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 182.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,006,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,580,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233,116 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter worth about $14,623,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1,331.9% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,997,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,271 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.