Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 40,493 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 202,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 40,493 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 771.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on HL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE HL opened at $5.84 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5.54 and its 200-day moving average is $5.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.72 and a beta of 1.94. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $4.04 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,372.16. This trade represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.