Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by 400.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 204,000 shares during the quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 348,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,363.31. The trade was a 6.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total value of $126,047.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 59,410 shares in the company, valued at $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. CIBC raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price objective on Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, June 13th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.07.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $5.94. 2,635,206 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,904,201. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 53.96 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Hecla Mining Company has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 3.87%. The business had revenue of $261.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. Hecla Mining’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.09%.

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.