KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 123,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HL. AXQ Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 28,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 6,723 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,275,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,263,000 after acquiring an additional 22,809 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 924.7% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 611,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,004,000 after acquiring an additional 552,076 shares during the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth about $184,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 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 $84,604.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 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 Trading Up 2.7 %

Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.63 on Thursday. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $4.41 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.62 and a beta of 1.94.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. On average, equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

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.