Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up to $4.90

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.90, but opened at $5.05. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $5.19, with a volume of 1,281,154 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on HL shares. Cibc World Mkts raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.75 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Hecla Mining to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Hecla Mining from $4.60 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.89.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.47 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $189.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.31 million. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.28% and a negative net margin of 12.22%. On average, analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.006 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of Hecla Mining 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 $1,934,019.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of Hecla Mining 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 $1,934,019.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 30,634 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $150,412.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 351,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,728,182.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,105 shares of company stock valued at $329,486 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.8% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,513,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $291,070,000 after buying an additional 3,827,580 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hecla Mining by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,573 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Hecla Mining by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,919,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $167,967,000 after purchasing an additional 168,185 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the first quarter worth about $42,576,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Hecla Mining by 19.0% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 7,310,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,256 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by 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.