Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stock Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 52,441,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,072,100 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Hecla Mining worth $254,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 211.9% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 18,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 223,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 39,494 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 14,295 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,215,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,703,000 after buying an additional 86,663 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hecla Mining by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,902,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,393,000 after buying an additional 62,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HL traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.93. The company had a trading volume of 7,614,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,098,600. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.33 and a fifty-two week high of $6.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.53 and a beta of 2.01.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 5.56%. The firm had revenue of $245.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be issued a $0.0138 dividend. This is an increase from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently -33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HL. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Hecla Mining to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.75 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.13.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In related news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total transaction of $57,343.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 393,894 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,019.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 11,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $57,343.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 393,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,019.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Denis Brown sold 24,792 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.91, for a total value of $121,728.72. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 607,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,983,556.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,105 shares of company stock worth $329,486 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.