Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Analysts at Scotiabank

Stock analysts at Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.19% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Roth Capital set a $8.75 price objective on Hecla Mining and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC increased their price target on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.03.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of Hecla Mining stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $15.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,398,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,890,789. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.33. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.46 and a 52 week high of $16.09. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 94.76 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 9.55%.The business had revenue of $409.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Hecla Mining’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $163,388.88. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,428. The trade was a 16.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 18,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $278,395.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 181,379 shares of company stock valued at $2,667,365 in the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $863,324,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452,401 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 32.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $603,566,000 after acquiring an additional 12,197,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,032,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,327 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,827,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,285,000 after buying an additional 2,306,239 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,855 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.