Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Lowered to Hold Rating by TD Securities

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at TD Securities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a $5.50 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $6.50. TD Securities’ target price points to a potential upside of 2.57% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HL. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.36. The company had a trading volume of 21,666,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,427,912. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.85. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.04 and a one year high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.32 and a beta of 1.94.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,440,000 after purchasing an additional 774,000 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Hecla Mining by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after buying an additional 39,421 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,453,000 after buying an additional 502,094 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,944,000 after acquiring an additional 289,865 shares in 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.