Cerity Partners LLC Sells 4,551 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,551 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HL. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 771.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.68. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.02 and a beta of 1.77. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $4.41 and a 12-month 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.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. National Bank Financial upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.75.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov bought 6,570 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company 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.