Fox Run Management L.L.C. Increases Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,866 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HL. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,499,000 after purchasing an additional 711,676 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,453,000 after buying an additional 502,094 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,258,000 after buying an additional 1,842,991 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,441,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 43.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,481,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,929 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HL. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities lowered Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of HL opened at $5.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.92 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.61 and a 200 day moving average of $5.84.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

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.