Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.25.

Several brokerages have weighed in on HL. Zacks Research downgraded Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE:HL opened at $17.64 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.02 and a 200 day moving average of $19.63. The company has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03 and a beta of 1.26. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.71 and a 1-year high of $34.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 4.53.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.03). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 17.41%.The firm had revenue of $411.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently 2.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Hecla Mining by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Hecla Mining by 2,390.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in Hecla Mining by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hecla Mining

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.