Hecla Mining Company $HL Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. sold 34,683 shares of Hecla Mining Company, reducing its stake by 18.7% to now hold a total of 151,074 shares valued at $840,000.
• Institutional investors own 63.01% of Hecla Mining's stock, with significant activity including new acquisitions and stake increases from firms like Raymond James and Stifel Financial.
• Hecla Mining reported a $0.08 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.0038 per share, with a yield of 0.2%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 18.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,074 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 34,683 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,830,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $349,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,895 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,944,000 after purchasing an additional 289,865 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 62.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,442,667 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,410,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $8.87. 18,691,266 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,964,574. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $6.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.92. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 55.35 and a beta of 1.29. Hecla Mining Company has a 12 month low of $4.46 and a 12 month high of $9.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. National Bankshares set a $7.00 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.36.

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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This trade represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.