Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Trading Down 3.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)’s share price fell 3.3% during trading on Friday after Roth Capital downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a sell rating. Roth Capital now has a $8.75 price target on the stock. Hecla Mining traded as low as $11.71 and last traded at $11.67. 3,571,274 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 22,288,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.06.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $163,388.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,428. The trade was a 16.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HL. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 255.6% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 4,425 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 1.4%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.00 and its 200-day moving average is $6.81. The stock has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.33 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.51%. The firm had revenue of $304.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.25%.

About Hecla Mining

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.