Traders Buy High Volume of Hecla Mining Put Options (NYSE:HL)

Key Points

• Hecla Mining saw unusually heavy put-option activity: Investors purchased 58,116 put options, about 108% above the typical daily volume.
• Shares rose $0.63 to $17.48 in high-volume trading, despite the company’s latest quarterly results missing analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $24.12; institutional investors own approximately 63% of the stock.

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 58,116 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 108% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,899 put options.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HL traded up $0.63 on Monday, hitting $17.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,611,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,732,246. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.68 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day moving average is $15.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.87. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $7.25 and a 12 month high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $333.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.75 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 20.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter worth $1,085,779,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $417,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453,706 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $120,509,000 after buying an additional 2,574,855 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 40.6% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,928,130 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hecla Mining by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,620,647 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,949 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.12.

About Hecla Mining

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.

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