Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 40,568 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the typical daily volume of 30,470 call options.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 11.8%

HL stock traded up $2.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.07. The company had a trading volume of 34,912,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,562,807. The firm has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95 and a beta of 1.32. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $7.45 and a 1-year high of $34.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.31.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 20.84%.The company had revenue of $333.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $0.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. Zacks Research raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at about $1,085,779,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,715,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $244,003,000 after buying an additional 5,906,313 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,144,000 after buying an additional 4,928,130 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,417,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,278,000 after buying an additional 4,453,706 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hecla Mining

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.