AXQ Capital LP Boosts Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

AXQ Capital LP increased its position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,723 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 771.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 2.0 %

HL stock opened at $5.88 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.84. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.23 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.52 and a beta of 1.94.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.