Oxford Asset Management LLP Acquires New Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 30,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at $4,984,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 509,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 40,692 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 1,246.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 161,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 149,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 337,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL stock opened at $5.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.53 and a 200 day moving average of $5.66. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.42 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on HL. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hecla Mining 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.