ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 757,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,720,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 353,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 15,598 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $71,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 43.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 47,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 14,521 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 12.1 %

Shares of HL opened at $4.71 on Monday. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.12 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly 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). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the company’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 $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,543,551.94. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.