Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.31, but opened at $25.25. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $24.1540, with a volume of 3,883,218 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC boosted their target price on Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Capital set a $8.75 price target on Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a PE ratio of 77.89 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.27.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 16.35% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $409.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Hecla Mining’s quarterly revenue was up 67.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total value of $4,030,679.26. Following the sale, the vice president owned 906,370 shares in the company, valued at $17,601,705.40. This represents a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total value of $1,144,118.29. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,604.31. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 426,679 shares of company stock valued at $7,678,773. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 102,278.8% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 53,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 53,185 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 45,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 22,044 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 12,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 7,742 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $644,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 2,648.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 565,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,843,000 after acquiring an additional 544,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.