Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Hecla Mining Call Options (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 16,021 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,165 call options.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL opened at $7.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.20 and a beta of 2.01. 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 twelve month low of $3.33 and a twelve month high of $7.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.70.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.0138 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,949. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 27.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 338,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 44,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 40,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.56.

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.