Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $12.11, but opened at $13.82. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $14.61, with a volume of 13,343,926 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 6.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on HL. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $8.75 price target on shares of Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.32.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 17.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.76 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.74 and its 200-day moving average is $8.02.

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

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $163,388.88. Following the sale, the vice president owned 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,428. The trade was a 16.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the first quarter valued at $41,360,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 40.6% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,052,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928,130 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the first quarter valued at $18,410,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 7,588.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,189,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,147,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 869.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 3,274,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,288 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.