Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 1,908,855 Shares of Hecla Mining Company $HL

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd cut its stake in Hecla Mining by 30.7% in Q4, selling 1,908,855 shares and retaining 4,311,047 shares (about 0.64% of the company) valued at roughly $82.73 million.
• Several large institutions—including Vanguard, VanEck, State Street and MIRAE—significantly increased positions, leaving institutional ownership at 63.01% of HL.
• Analysts split toward caution with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.63, though some firms raised targets (BMO $28, Canaccord $26.50, Scotiabank $25); HL trades with a market cap of about $13.07B and a P/E near 39.8.

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its holdings in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,311,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,908,855 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.64% of Hecla Mining worth $82,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $863,324,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452,401 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 32.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $603,566,000 after purchasing an additional 12,197,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $417,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453,706 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,524,912 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $284,651,000 after purchasing an additional 6,472,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $120,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,855 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on HL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.63.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $19.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.22. Hecla Mining Company has a one year low of $4.51 and a one year high of $34.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.04%.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d'Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company's principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.

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