VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $4.67 Million Position in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 302,450 shares of Hecla Mining, valued at approximately $4.67 million, while institutional investors collectively own 63.01% of the company.
• Hecla Mining reported quarterly revenue of $333.85 million, up 9.8% year over year, but missed analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings per share ($0.17 versus $0.18 expected).
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $23.82 compared with the reported share price of $20.81; the company also declared a nominal quarterly dividend.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 302,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,667,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HL. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,844 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL opened at $20.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47 and a beta of 1.38. Hecla Mining Company has a 1 year low of $10.26 and a 1 year high of $34.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $17.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.08.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The business had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $368.75 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hecla Mining from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.82.

Hecla Mining Profile

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d'Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company's principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.