Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HL. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm set a $13.00 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.63.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of HL opened at $17.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.72. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.46 and a 52 week high of $34.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.71 and a 200-day moving average of $18.15.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,746,604.31. The trade was a 19.42% 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Hecla Mining during the third quarter worth $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 74.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 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.