Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $1.64 Million in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 334,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 32,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 3,845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL stock opened at $4.54 on Friday. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.82 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.64.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

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.