Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 17,339 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 70% compared to the typical volume of 10,220 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Hecla Mining by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 25,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,457 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities lowered Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.72. 14,792,605 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,986,457. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $4.41 and a twelve month high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.52 and a beta of 1.77.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

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.