Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Holdings in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 920,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 304,649 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.15% of Hecla Mining worth $5,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 25,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 42,854 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.92.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, Director Catherine J. Boggs purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 directly owned 348,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 59,410 shares in the company, valued at $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $6.16 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 56.01 and a beta of 1.47. Hecla Mining Company has a 12-month low of $4.41 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Hecla Mining's payout ratio is 9.09%.

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.

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