Zacks Investment Management Sells 7,631 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Zacks Investment Management lowered its stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 182,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,631 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 909,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,069,000 after buying an additional 691,862 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hecla Mining by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,499,000 after acquiring an additional 711,676 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth about $371,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth about $245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright restated 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 upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Insider Activity

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,543,551.94. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $47,630.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,372.16. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE HL opened at $5.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 116.12 and a beta of 1.77. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.71.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

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