Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 27.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,748 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. SPC Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth approximately $67,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $5.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of -127.50 and a beta of 1.91. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.83.

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

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -125.00%.

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.