Oppenheimer & Close LLC Cuts Holdings in Hecla Mining Company $HL

Oppenheimer & Close LLC reduced its holdings in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 356,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 297,080 shares during the quarter. Hecla Mining accounts for about 4.7% of Oppenheimer & Close LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Oppenheimer & Close LLC’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $6,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 11,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 31,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE HL opened at $17.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.53, a current ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Hecla Mining Company has a twelve month low of $5.03 and a twelve month high of $34.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a PE ratio of 43.27 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.38 and its 200 day moving average is $19.93.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 17.41%.The company had revenue of $411.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 2.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HL. Zacks Research lowered Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Roth Mkm set a $13.00 price target on Hecla Mining in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright dropped their price target on Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.25.

Hecla Mining Profile

Hecla Mining Company, founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the oldest publicly traded precious metals companies in the United States. Originally established to develop the rich silver deposits of the Coeur d’Alene district, Hecla has evolved into a diversified mining enterprise focused on the exploration, development and production of silver and gold, with by-product credits from lead and zinc.

The company’s principal operations are located in North America and Latin America.