Insider Selling: Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Sells 207,553 Shares of Stock

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) VP David Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 906,370 shares in the company, valued at $17,601,705.40. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of Hecla Mining stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $19.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 139,598,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,030,021. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.35. Hecla Mining Company has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $20.57. The company has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.47 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 3.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital set a $8.75 target price on shares of Hecla Mining and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.22.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 12,156 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter worth approximately $97,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $557,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter worth $114,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter valued at $123,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.