Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Down 3.3% – What’s Next?

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) shares traded down 3.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $5.71 and last traded at $5.68. 2,546,809 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 19,192,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.72 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 771.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.