Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 334,096 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Hecla Mining as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $301,440,000 after purchasing an additional 774,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hecla Mining by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $68,289,000 after acquiring an additional 39,421 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,453,000 after purchasing an additional 502,094 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,189,473 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,570,000 after buying an additional 707,712 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,788,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,600,000 after buying an additional 885,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:HL traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $4.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,539,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,596,123. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $4.41 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.82 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.52 and a 200-day moving average of $5.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.50 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Hecla Mining's revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $99,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 348,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $5.50 price target (down previously from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.20.

About Hecla Mining

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.