Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Short Interest Down 6.3% in January

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,720,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the December 31st total of 16,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HL traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.68. 19,710,461 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,639,048. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.85. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.88 and a beta of 1.91. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $3.33 and a 12-month high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HL. National Bank Financial cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HL. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Hecla Mining by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,559 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at about $14,623,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,481,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,499,000 after acquiring an additional 711,676 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.