Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Sold by PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co cut its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 18.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 240,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 55,000 shares during the quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $1,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,440,000 after acquiring an additional 774,000 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after purchasing an additional 39,421 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,453,000 after purchasing an additional 502,094 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,944,000 after buying an additional 289,865 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HL shares. National Bankshares set a $7.00 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $5.50 target price (down from $7.50) on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.10.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 1.3%

HL stock opened at $5.93 on Tuesday. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.49 and its 200 day moving average is $5.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 118.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $261.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is currently 9.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, Director Catherine J. Boggs acquired 20,000 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $99,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 348,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,363.31. This trade represents a 6.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 18,926 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.66, for a total transaction of $126,047.16. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $395,670.60. This trade represents a 24.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.