Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 1,615.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 264,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 249,195 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HL. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the second quarter worth $19,714,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,510,000 after buying an additional 2,238,559 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at about $6,280,000. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,863,000 after buying an additional 1,196,515 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,813,000 after acquiring an additional 456,107 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.94.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $5.52 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $6.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.09. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $3.33 and a 1-year high of $7.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.00 and a beta of 2.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. The firm had revenue of $245.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Hecla Mining’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.0138 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -125.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The trade was a 38.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hecla Mining 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.