Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Short Interest Update

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,720,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 16,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Hecla Mining by 771.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HL traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $5.39. 15,526,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,740,050. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.68 and a beta of 1.91. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $245.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.0138 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently -125.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HL. National Bank Financial lowered Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.94.

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.