Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Trading Down 14.5% – Here’s Why

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)’s share price dropped 14.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.13 and last traded at $22.4930. Approximately 49,120,413 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 60% from the average daily volume of 30,727,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Tuesday. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 14.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 72.56 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently 3.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 18,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $278,395.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,604.31. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 426,679 shares of company stock valued at $7,678,773 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $863,324,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452,401 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,197,740 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $417,278,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453,706 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted 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 worth $284,651,000 after acquiring an additional 6,472,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,118,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.