Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 110,609 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 185,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 110,609 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 156.7% in the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 165,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 100,970 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth about $3,720,000. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,492,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 67,783 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 4,206 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% in the fourth 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. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HL shares. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities cut shares of Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Hecla Mining stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.85. 17,774,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,322,981. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.02 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining's payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $84,604.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently 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.