Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.68.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HL shares. National Bank Financial reiterated an “outperform market weight” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $4.60 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 1,172.3% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 17,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 16,412 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

HL stock opened at $5.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.51 and a 200-day moving average of $4.38. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $3.33 and a 12-month high of $6.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.63 and a beta of 2.20.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 11.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. The company had revenue of $160.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. Hecla Mining’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.006 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently -20.00%.

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.