Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) traded down 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $19.54 and last traded at $19.58. 3,001,384 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 21,946,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 3.1%

The company has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.24 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.35%.The business had revenue of $409.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total transaction of $4,030,679.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,601,705.40. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 148,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $2,225,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 347,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,211,030. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 374,460 shares of company stock worth $6,534,655 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,684,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,366,000 after buying an additional 38,118 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at $187,000. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth $2,964,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth $167,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth $11,132,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d’Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company’s principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.