HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Hecla Mining Company by 91.5%, selling 128,615 shares and now holding only 12,004 shares valued at $67,000.
• Hecla Mining recently reported a 23.8% increase in quarterly revenue, totaling approximately $304.03 million, and achieved earnings per share of $0.08, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• Analyst ratings for Hecla Mining vary, with targets increasing by several investment firms, leading to an average price target of $7.36 and a consensus rating of "Hold."

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 91.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,004 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 128,615 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,830,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $349,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,895 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,578,828 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,752,000 after purchasing an additional 127,756 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,307,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,419,000 after purchasing an additional 363,554 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 4.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,913,645 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,200,000 after purchasing an additional 115,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1,246.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 161,084 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 149,119 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:HL traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,420,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,114,682. The firm has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Hecla Mining Company has a 1 year low of $4.46 and a 1 year high of $11.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.13.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 9.55%.The business had revenue of $304.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Hecla Mining's payout ratio is 6.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Hecla Mining from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.36.

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.