Hecla Mining Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 58,116 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 108% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,899 put options.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining in the second quarter worth approximately $1,085,779,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453,706 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,574,855 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928,130 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,620,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,000,000 after buying an additional 1,770,949 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HL traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $17.48. The company had a trading volume of 37,611,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,732,246. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 35.68 and a beta of 1.32. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $7.25 and a 1-year high of $34.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.87.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $333.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Hecla Mining from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded 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, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.12.

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.