Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Downgraded by National Bank Financial to “Hold”

National Bank Financial lowered shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

HL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.94.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 1.1 %

Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -139.25 and a beta of 2.00. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $3.33 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.76%. The company had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.0138 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently -125.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total value of $735,303.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,949. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,573 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,238,559 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,644,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,027,000 after acquiring an additional 146,689 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth $42,576,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,515 shares during the last quarter. 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.