Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Trading 7.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)’s stock price shot up 7.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $17.28 and last traded at $17.0760. 8,513,229 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 21,507,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HL. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 62.23 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $163,388.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,428. The trade was a 16.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 148,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $2,225,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 347,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,211,030. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 181,379 shares of company stock valued at $2,667,365. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 28,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 12,156 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $97,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at $557,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at $123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.