HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 128,615 Shares of Hecla Mining Company $HL

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by 91.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 128,615 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. CIBC boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.36.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of HL stock opened at $9.03 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $6.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.98. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.41 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.99. Hecla Mining Company has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $9.12.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $304.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.93 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.51%. Hecla Mining’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.25%.

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.