Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,846 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,513,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $291,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827,580 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,573 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the first quarter worth approximately $42,576,000. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 17.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,863,000 after buying an additional 1,196,515 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 7,310,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,163,000 after buying an additional 1,165,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 30,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $150,412.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 351,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,182.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 30,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $150,412.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 351,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,182.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $57,343.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 393,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,019.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,105 shares of company stock valued at $329,486 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HL. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 8th. CIBC boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.75 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.45.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 5.9 %

HL stock opened at $6.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.47 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.27. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.33 and a fifty-two week high of $6.86.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $245.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.80 million. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 5.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.0138 per share. This is a boost from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -33.33%.

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.