Analysts Set Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Price Target at $7.75

Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.75.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HL shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 114.92 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.84. Hecla Mining has a twelve month low of $4.04 and a twelve month high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,512 shares in the company, valued at $541,372.16. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hecla Mining by 7.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,813,000 after acquiring an additional 456,107 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 202.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 50,969 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $1,210,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $92,499,000 after purchasing an additional 711,676 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently 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.