33,581 Shares in Hecla Mining Company $HL Acquired by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $863,324,000 after acquiring an additional 8,452,401 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 32.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,197,740 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,278,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453,706 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 6,472,566 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 14.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price objective on Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.50 to $36.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total transaction of $1,144,118.29. Following the sale, the vice president owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,604.31. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:HL opened at $18.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.00. Hecla Mining Company has a twelve month low of $4.46 and a twelve month high of $34.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43 and a beta of 1.22.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.04%.

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.