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

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.71, but opened at $4.91. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $4.96, with a volume of 3,333,439 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HL. StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities cut Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.32 and a beta of 1.77.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $84,604.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,440,000 after purchasing an additional 774,000 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,999,000 after buying an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,289,000 after buying an additional 39,421 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,453,000 after buying an additional 502,094 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,098,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,944,000 after acquiring an additional 289,865 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hecla Mining

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.