Analysts Set Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Price Target at $23.82

Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.8214.

HL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 26.9% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 4.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.1% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 12,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.3% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 17,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL stock opened at $18.68 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.12 and a beta of 1.38. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $10.38 and a fifty-two week high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 20.84%.The firm had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.04%.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is a precious and base metals mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development, and production of silver, gold, lead, and zinc. The company sells concentrates and refined metals produced from its mining operations and also maintains a portfolio of exploration and development properties.

Founded in 1891, Hecla is one of the oldest U.S.-based mining companies. Its operating portfolio has included the Greens Creek silver, gold, lead, and zinc mine near Juneau, Alaska; the Lucky Friday silver, lead, and zinc mine in Idaho; the Keno Hill silver district in Yukon, Canada; and the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec, Canada.

Through these operations and related exploration activities, Hecla serves the North American metals market, with production and mineral assets located in the United States and Canada.