Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.89, but opened at $6.10. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $6.13, with a volume of 3,469,686 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HL shares. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities cut Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.62 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.71.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $249.66 million for 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,372.16. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 771.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.