Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Hecla Mining has a consensus “Hold” rating among nine brokerages: six holds, two buys and one sell. Analysts’ average 12-month price target is $23.82.
• Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company, with major holders including BlackRock, VanEck and State Street increasing or initiating positions.
• Hecla’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, with earnings of $0.17 per share versus $0.18 expected and revenue of $333.85 million versus $368.75 million estimated; revenue nevertheless grew 9.8% year over year.

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.8214.

HL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hecla Mining from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter worth $1,085,779,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 15.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,174,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $589,027,000 after acquiring an additional 5,053,624 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $417,278,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453,706 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $120,509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 40.6% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,928,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL opened at $19.77 on Friday. Hecla Mining has a 52-week low of $10.38 and a 52-week high of $34.17. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36 and a beta of 1.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $17.55 and its 200-day moving average is $18.06.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.04%.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company NYSE: HL is a precious and base metals mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development, and production of silver, gold, lead, and zinc. The company sells concentrates and refined metals produced from its mining operations and also maintains a portfolio of exploration and development properties.

Founded in 1891, Hecla is one of the oldest U.S.-based mining companies. Its operating portfolio has included the Greens Creek silver, gold, lead, and zinc mine near Juneau, Alaska; the Lucky Friday silver, lead, and zinc mine in Idaho; the Keno Hill silver district in Yukon, Canada; and the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec, Canada.

Through these operations and related exploration activities, Hecla serves the North American metals market, with production and mineral assets located in the United States and Canada.

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