Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Stock Price Down 6.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s share price was down 6.5% on Friday after TD Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $7.00 to $6.50. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Hecla Mining traded as low as $5.36 and last traded at $5.27. Approximately 3,002,101 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 17,111,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.63.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HL. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,559 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $68,289,000 after purchasing an additional 39,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,453,000 after purchasing an additional 502,094 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.52 and a beta of 1.91. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.87.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.02%.

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.