Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.55, but opened at $23.55. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $22.7690, with a volume of 4,861,375 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on HL shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $26.50 price objective on Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 7.2%

The company has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.59 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.29 and its 200-day moving average is $14.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.35%.The business had revenue of $409.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining Company will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 148,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $2,225,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 347,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,211,030. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,144,118.29. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 216,641 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,604.31. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 426,679 shares of company stock valued at $7,678,773 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HL. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 32.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,881,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $603,566,000 after purchasing an additional 12,197,740 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,349,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $863,324,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452,401 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,524,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,651,000 after buying an additional 6,472,566 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 577.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,808,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,386,000 after buying an additional 5,804,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 14.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,485,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,278,000 after buying an additional 4,453,706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

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.