Brokerages Set Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Target Price at $8.75

Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.75.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital set a $8.75 target price on Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Hecla Mining from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Hecla Mining stock opened at $12.36 on Thursday. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $4.46 and a 12 month high of $15.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.69. The company has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.23 and a beta of 1.31.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 9.55%.The business had revenue of $304.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. Hecla Mining’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $163,388.88. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,428. This represents a 16.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the first quarter valued at about $2,964,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 146.8% during the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 647,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after buying an additional 385,283 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the first quarter valued at about $187,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,830,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $349,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,895 shares during the period. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the first quarter worth about $41,360,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.