Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Up 7.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) shot up 7.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $7.21 and last traded at $7.21. 5,690,341 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 8,736,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on HL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.56.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 9.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.53 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.23 and its 200 day moving average is $5.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $245.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.80 million. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 5.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.0138 dividend. This is a positive change from Hecla Mining’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,949. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 27.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 0.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 338,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 8.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 44,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 12.1% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 40,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 2.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold.