Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 983,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,026 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Hecla Mining worth $4,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HL. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Hecla Mining by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 26,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,517 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $787,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Hecla Mining by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 18,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,373,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL opened at $5.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.84. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $4.04 and a 1 year high of $7.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.92 and a beta of 1.94.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. 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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $47,630.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,372.16. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining 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.