Short Interest in Hudbay Minerals Inc. (NYSE:HBM) Increases By 52.4%

Hudbay Minerals Inc. (NYSE:HBM) (TSE:HBM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 9,100,000 shares, an increase of 52.4% from the February 13th total of 5,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Hudbay Minerals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Hudbay Minerals by 9,877.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,093 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hudbay Minerals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Hudbay Minerals during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Hudbay Minerals in the fourth quarter worth about $95,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Hudbay Minerals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 57.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Hudbay Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $11.17.

Hudbay Minerals Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE HBM traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.73. 9,301,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,919,660. Hudbay Minerals has a twelve month low of $6.42 and a twelve month high of $10.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $8.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.49.

Hudbay Minerals (NYSE:HBM) (TSE:HBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Hudbay Minerals had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 3.80%. The business had revenue of $584.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $588.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Hudbay Minerals’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hudbay Minerals will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hudbay Minerals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.007 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Hudbay Minerals’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.01. Hudbay Minerals’s dividend payout ratio is 5.56%.

About Hudbay Minerals

Hudbay Minerals Inc, a diversified mining company, focuses on the exploration, development, operation, and optimization of properties in North and South America. It produces copper concentrates containing gold, silver, and molybdenum; gold concentrates containing zinc; zinc concentrates; molybdenum concentrates; and silver/gold doré.