Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 194,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,620,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 17,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 84,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 8,105 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the first quarter worth approximately $621,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Hecla Mining by 56.2% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 7,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HL shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.79.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Hecla Mining stock opened at $15.53 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.24 and a 200-day moving average of $19.99. Hecla Mining Company has a 52-week low of $5.47 and a 52-week high of $34.17. The company has a quick ratio of 4.53, a current ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89 and a beta of 1.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $411.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently 2.44%.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d’Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company’s principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.