Insider Selling: Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Sells 9,195 Shares of Stock

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,372.16. This trade represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 0.9 %

HL traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.26. The company had a trading volume of 9,950,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,586,852. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $3.41 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.12 and a beta of 1.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HL shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.00.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 771.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.