Perritt Capital Management Inc Boosts Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,206 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HL. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Hecla Mining by 221.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 632,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after acquiring an additional 435,634 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 353,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 15,598 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 378.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 897,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,985,000 after buying an additional 709,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HL shares. 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 cut Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE HL opened at $5.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.83. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 109.32 and a beta of 1.94. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.41 and a 1-year high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for 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 research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,372.16. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.