Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Short Interest Update

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,340,000 shares, a decline of 8.3% from the August 15th total of 14,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total value of $735,303.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,949. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,949. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $57,343.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 393,894 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,019.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,717 shares of company stock worth $1,064,789. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HL. SPC Financial Inc. bought a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter worth about $67,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,212,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,879,000 after buying an additional 56,203 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Hecla Mining by 254.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 104,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 74,915 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter worth $290,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 0.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 338,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.75 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.45.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE:HL traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.53. 14,516,876 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,459,995. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.87 and a beta of 2.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $6.99.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 5.56%. The company had revenue of $245.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.0138 per share. This is an increase from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently -33.33%.

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.