JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 707,712 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,189,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 707,712 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.67% of Hecla Mining worth $20,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hecla Mining Trading Up 3.7 %

HL opened at $5.48 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.52 and a beta of 1.77. 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 has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Hecla Mining 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.