Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 5,376 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 795,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,376 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.13% of Hecla Mining worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Haven Private LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $5.50 target price (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total transaction of $126,047.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 59,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $99,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 348,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,363.31. This represents a 6.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 2.6%

HL opened at $6.28 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.36 and a 200 day moving average of $5.44. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.63 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. 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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.01) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 9.09%.

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.