Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 40,568 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 33% compared to the typical daily volume of 30,470 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HL. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 11.8%

Shares of HL stock traded up $2.12 on Wednesday, reaching $20.07. 34,912,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,562,807. The company has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.31. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $7.45 and a twelve month high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.75 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.04%.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

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.