Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up to $5.47

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.47, but opened at $5.67. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $5.68, with a volume of 488,970 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Hecla Mining to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.75 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.13.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.33 and a beta of 2.01.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 5.56%. The business 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 firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.0138 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. This is a boost from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $57,343.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 393,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,019.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hecla Mining news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 30,634 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $150,412.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 351,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,182.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $57,343.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 393,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,019.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,105 shares of company stock valued at $329,486 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 223,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 39,494 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 14,295 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,215,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,703,000 after purchasing an additional 86,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,902,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,393,000 after purchasing an additional 62,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SCP Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 38,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.