Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Stock Price Down 7.9% – Should You Sell?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) shares traded down 7.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $20.90 and last traded at $21.2850. 24,005,178 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 30,230,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $16.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Hecla Mining from $16.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.69. The firm has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 73.35 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hecla Mining news, VP David C. Sienko sold 207,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total transaction of $4,030,679.26. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 906,370 shares in the company, valued at $17,601,705.40. This represents a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 148,372 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 347,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,211,030. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 426,679 shares of company stock worth $7,678,773. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

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