Hecla Mining Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 51,436 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the average volume of 40,185 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. Roth Capital set a $8.75 price target on shares of Hecla Mining and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.22.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total transaction of $1,144,118.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,604.31. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total value of $4,030,679.26. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,601,705.40. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 426,679 shares of company stock valued at $7,678,773. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $863,324,000 after acquiring an additional 8,452,401 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 32.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $603,566,000 after purchasing an additional 12,197,740 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453,706 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,524,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,651,000 after purchasing an additional 6,472,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,509,000 after buying an additional 2,574,855 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of HL stock traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.43. 17,220,653 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,408,404. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.85 and a beta of 1.28. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $4.46 and a 12-month high of $24.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 16.35% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $409.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently 3.23%.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d’Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company’s principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.