Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 444,490 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 2,757.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 460,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 444,490 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Hecla Mining worth $3,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,044,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,764,000 after purchasing an additional 131,609 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter worth $41,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 12.9% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 81,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 9,307 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 985,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,777,000 after buying an additional 10,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $5.07 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.89 and a 200 day moving average of $5.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.75 and a beta of 1.92. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. The business’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.0138 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is -125.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Securities dropped their target price on Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.94.

Hecla Mining 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.