Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 227,694 Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,839,587 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 227,694 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 1.08% of Hecla Mining worth $38,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 182.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1,331.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,855,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HL has been the topic of several research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Roth Capital restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Securities dropped 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. National Bankshares set a $7.00 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $5.50 target price (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total transaction of $126,047.16. Following the sale, the vice president owned 59,410 shares in the company, valued at $395,670.60. The trade was a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL traded down $0.58 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,458,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,893,982. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Hecla Mining Company has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 50.73 and a beta of 1.47. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $5.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.51.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.87% and a net margin of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $261.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. 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.