455,691 Shares in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Acquired by Lesa Sroufe & Co

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

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 947,881 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,654,000 after acquiring an additional 43,023 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 800,382 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 46,020 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 368,274 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 49,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 202.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,151 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 50,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HL shares. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $5.50 price objective (down from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 59,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 348,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE HL traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.76. 27,338,514 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,256,560. The company's 50-day moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day moving average is $5.47. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.32 and a beta of 1.44. Hecla Mining Company has a 52-week low of $4.41 and a 52-week high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

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