Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,080,000 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 19,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,949. The trade was a 38.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HL. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,499,000 after buying an additional 711,676 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Hecla Mining by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 909,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,069,000 after purchasing an additional 691,862 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 603.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 162,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 139,321 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 28.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 753.6% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 248,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 219,811 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE HL traded up $0.16 on Monday, reaching $5.66. 13,963,733 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,292,087. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.52 and a 200 day moving average of $5.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.33 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of -141.38 and a beta of 2.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $245.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.0138 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -125.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.94.

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.