Lesa Sroufe & Co Buys Shares of 455,691 Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 455,691 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,534,000. Hecla Mining accounts for about 2.5% of Lesa Sroufe & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Lesa Sroufe & Co owned 0.07% of Hecla Mining as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC lifted 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 worth $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in 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 worth $24,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,233,116 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 1,331.9% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,997,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,271 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,855,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $99,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 348,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total transaction of $126,047.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $5.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 118.62 and a beta of 1.44. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $4.41 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.50 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm's revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HL shares. National Bank Financial upgraded Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities cut 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. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $5.50 price target (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on Hecla Mining in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.10.

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.

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