Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 16,138 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 130% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,029 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, National Bank Financial restated an "outperform market weight" rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $6.45.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.03. The stock had a trading volume of 9,487,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,553,513. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3.96 and a 200 day moving average of $4.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.53 and a beta of 2.20. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $7.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $160.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.51 million. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 11.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.01 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.006 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -20.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,913,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $278,564,000 after purchasing an additional 345,694 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 56,686,012 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $272,659,000 after buying an additional 1,044,102 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,923,690 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $231,357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,173 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,919,446 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $167,967,000 after acquiring an additional 168,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,925,189 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,748,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033,244 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.