Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.44, but opened at $5.68. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $5.60, with a volume of 3,300,458 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on HL shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities dropped their price target on Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. National Bank Financial downgraded 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 research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.38.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 112.92 and a beta of 1.91. 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 fifty day moving average price of $5.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.86.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently 100.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 7,960,826 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 39,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 7.5% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.