GTS Securities LLC Trims Stock Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

GTS Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 95.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 243,304 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Hecla Mining by 100.5% in 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 during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $18,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 182.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,006,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,580,000 after buying an additional 3,233,116 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1,331.9% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,997,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,809,000 after buying an additional 1,858,271 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter worth about $7,855,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $5.50 price objective (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.13.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 348,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,363.31. The trade was a 6.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of HL traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.75. The company had a trading volume of 14,302,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,372,492. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $4.41 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.02 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $5.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.42.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. 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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $261.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Hecla Mining's payout ratio is 9.09%.

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.