Nuveen LLC Makes New $18.41 Million Investment in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining Company, purchasing 3,311,232 shares valued at approximately $18.4 million, constituting 0.52% of the company's total stock.
• Insider transactions revealed that VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares for $126,047, indicating a 24.16% reduction in his holdings.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings on Hecla Mining, with two analysts issuing a "Buy" rating and a consensus rating of "Hold," along with an average price target of $7.36.

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,311,232 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $18,410,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.52% of Hecla Mining as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $1,640,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,830,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $349,340,000 after buying an additional 1,437,895 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 8.8% in 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 buying an additional 127,756 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,307,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,419,000 after buying an additional 363,554 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.1% in 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 buying an additional 115,512 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total value of $126,047.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 59,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $395,670.60. The trade was a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hecla Mining Stock Down 0.3%

HL traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $7.87. 13,994,827 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,752,492. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.19 and a beta of 1.27. Hecla Mining Company has a fifty-two week low of $4.46 and a fifty-two week high of $8.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $6.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.82.

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

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Hecla Mining's payout ratio is currently 6.25%.

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.