Oxbow Advisors LLC Purchases 3,548 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 248,727 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 19.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 18,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 28.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 21.7% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 7.2 %

NYSE:HL opened at $5.23 on Friday. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $3.40 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.52 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.87.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.00.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other news, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.