Hecla Mining Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 47,893 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 43% compared to the typical daily volume of 33,413 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $8.75 target price on Hecla Mining and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Stuart Maurice Absolom sold 14,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $163,388.88. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 73,200 shares in the company, valued at $826,428. This represents a 16.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the second quarter worth about $25,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2,390.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 255.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,425 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

HL stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.51. The company had a trading volume of 23,292,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,970,715. The company has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.69 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.02. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $15.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 9.55%.The business had revenue of $409.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Hecla Mining’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be 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 is Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 6.25%.

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.