Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases Shares of 367,254 Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 367,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,042,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.06% of Hecla Mining as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,640,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,275,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,263,000 after acquiring an additional 22,809 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $608,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $301,440,000 after acquiring an additional 774,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,189,473 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,570,000 after acquiring an additional 707,712 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE:HL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.69. The stock had a trading volume of 19,450,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,787,783. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.62. Hecla Mining Company has a 12-month low of $4.41 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.73 and a beta of 1.47.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 3.87%. The company had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 348,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total value of $126,047.16. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 59,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on HL shares. CIBC increased their price target on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $5.50 price target (down from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $7.00 target price on Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.07.

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.