Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CAO Michael L. Clary Sells 32,387 Shares

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HL traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.26. 9,950,409 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,586,852. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.12 and a beta of 1.91. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $3.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.88.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. On average, analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 100.5% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $18,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 182.4% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,006,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,580,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233,116 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 4.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth $14,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on HL shares. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. National Bank Financial downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.00.

About Hecla Mining

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.