Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Trading Down 4.2%

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s share price was down 4.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $6.87 and last traded at $6.88. Approximately 4,131,898 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 8,643,011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.56.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.60 and a beta of 2.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.45.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 5.56% and a negative return on equity of 0.42%. The firm had revenue of $245.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a boost from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 6.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,513,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,070,000 after buying an additional 3,827,580 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,811,000 after buying an additional 1,506,573 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 0.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,644,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,027,000 after buying an additional 146,689 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the first quarter worth about $42,576,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 17.0% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,863,000 after buying an additional 1,196,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company 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.