Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Hecla Mining Company by 2.3%, now owning approximately 9.94% of the shares, valued at $349.34 million.
• Hecla Mining reported a quarterly earnings surge, with earnings per share at $0.08, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.05, and a revenue increase of 23.8% year-over-year.
• Analysts have upgraded Hecla Mining's rating, with several firms increasing their price targets, indicating a potential positive outlook for the stock. The consensus rating is currently "Hold" with an average price target of $7.36.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,830,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,437,895 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.94% of Hecla Mining worth $349,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 100.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,233,116 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,858,271 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,984,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 510.2% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 740,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 619,348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of Hecla Mining stock traded up $0.0950 on Thursday, reaching $7.6950. 13,143,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,873,390. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Hecla Mining Company has a twelve month low of $4.46 and a twelve month high of $7.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.10 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.79.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $304.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. 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 6.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HL. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. CIBC raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.36.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of Hecla Mining 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 of the company's stock, valued at $395,670.60. The trade was a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.