Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $1.64 Million Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 334,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted 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 last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 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 $167,764.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE:HL opened at $5.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 109.32 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.83.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.