Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $8.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on HL shares. TD Securities decreased their target price on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL opened at $5.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 104.52 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.86. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.40 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 771.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.