Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Kurt Allen Sells 52,219 Shares

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total transaction of $1,144,118.29. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 216,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,746,604.31. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 12.7%

HL stock opened at $22.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.75 and a beta of 1.28. Hecla Mining Company has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $22.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.67.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 16.35% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 67.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is 3.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 32.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $603,566,000 after buying an additional 12,197,740 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $863,324,000 after acquiring an additional 8,452,401 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,524,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,651,000 after acquiring an additional 6,472,566 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 577.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,808,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,386,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453,706 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HL has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital set a $8.75 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.22.

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.