Hecla Mining (HL) Competitors

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Is AG or HL a better dividend stock?

First Majestic Silver pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. First Majestic Silver pays out -100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hecla Mining pays out 6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Majestic Silver is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AG or HL?

27.2% of First Majestic Silver shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of Hecla Mining shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Majestic Silver shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Hecla Mining shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend AG or HL?

First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus target price of $9.63, suggesting a potential downside of 2.14%. Hecla Mining has a consensus target price of $7.36, suggesting a potential downside of 30.16%. Given First Majestic Silver's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe First Majestic Silver is more favorable than Hecla Mining.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Majestic Silver	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Hecla Mining	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Does the media refer more to AG or HL?

In the previous week, Hecla Mining had 7 more articles in the media than First Majestic Silver. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Hecla Mining and 9 mentions for First Majestic Silver. First Majestic Silver's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Hecla Mining's score of 0.41 indicating that First Majestic Silver is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Majestic Silver	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hecla Mining	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AG or HL more profitable?

Hecla Mining has a net margin of 9.55% compared to First Majestic Silver's net margin of 1.78%. Hecla Mining's return on equity of 5.51% beat First Majestic Silver's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Majestic Silver	1.78%	1.72%	1.20%
Hecla Mining	9.55%	5.51%	3.80%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, AG or HL?

Hecla Mining has higher revenue and earnings than First Majestic Silver. First Majestic Silver is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hecla Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Majestic Silver	$831.05M	5.77	-$101.89M	-$0.01	-983.50
Hecla Mining	$929.92M	7.59	$35.80M	$0.16	65.84

Which has more volatility and risk, AG or HL?

First Majestic Silver has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hecla Mining has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hecla Mining beats First Majestic Silver on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.