Michael L. Clary Sells 32,387 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Stock

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

HL traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.26. 9,950,409 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,586,852. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.88. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $3.41 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 105.12 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 114,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 10,404 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 37.6% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Hecla Mining by 21.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter worth $871,000. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 37,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 3,037 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities reduced their target price on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.00.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

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.