Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.31, but opened at $25.25. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $24.1540, with a volume of 3,883,218 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on HL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 2nd. Roth Capital set a $8.75 price objective on Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 5.3%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.44. The company has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.65 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.23%.

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total value of $4,030,679.26. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,601,705.40. This trade represents a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 18,535 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $278,395.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 426,679 shares of company stock worth $7,678,773. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $603,566,000 after buying an additional 12,197,740 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.4% during the third 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Hecla Mining by 577.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,808,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,386,000 after purchasing an additional 5,804,298 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 14.8% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.