VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 302,450 Hecla Mining Company $HL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 302,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,667,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Hecla Mining by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,285,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,827,000 after purchasing an additional 739,360 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Hecla Mining by 24.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,959,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,894,000 after purchasing an additional 380,448 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 65,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 6,450 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 71.6% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 78,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 32,714 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.8% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 153,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Hecla Mining stock opened at $20.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.47 and a beta of 1.38. Hecla Mining Company has a 12 month low of $10.26 and a 12 month high of $34.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.08.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released 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 business had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.75 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.82.

Hecla Mining Company 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.