Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.10.

HL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bankshares set a $7.00 target price on Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, June 13th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. TD Securities cut their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $5.50 target price (down from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.0%

HL stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.83. The company had a trading volume of 24,630,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,323,535. 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 has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $5.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.00 and a beta of 1.45.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.50 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 3.87%. Hecla Mining's revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is 9.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining 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 value of $126,047.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 59,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine J. Boggs bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 348,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 947,881 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 43,023 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 368,274 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 49,883 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 202.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,151 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 50,969 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 178,816 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Company 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.