Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.22.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Hecla Mining from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth about $1,397,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at about $1,085,779,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,456,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1,188.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 432,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,679,000 after acquiring an additional 399,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 15.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,174,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $589,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053,624 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.9%

Hecla Mining stock opened at $14.72 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29 and a beta of 1.44. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $12.80 and a twelve month high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.08. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $394.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. Hecla Mining’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0037 per share. This represents a $0.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1.79%.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is a precious and base metals mining company that explores for, develops, and produces silver, gold, lead, and zinc. The company also undertakes activities related to mineral processing, mine development, and exploration of additional mineral resources.

Founded in 1891, Hecla is headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and is one of the oldest mining companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its operating portfolio has included the Greens Creek silver-gold-lead-zinc mine in Alaska, the Lucky Friday silver-lead-zinc mine in Idaho, the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec, and the Keno Hill silver operations in Yukon, Canada.

Through its mines and exploration projects in the United States and Canada, Hecla supplies silver and other metals to industrial, investment, and manufacturing markets.