Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 42,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.84. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 117.92 and a beta of 1.94.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.