Hecla Mining Company (HL) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.34.

HL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL stock opened at $14.86 on Thursday. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $11.81 and a fifty-two week high of $34.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.37.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $333.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.75 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.0037 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $0.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,085,779,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Hecla Mining by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,715,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $244,003,000 after purchasing an additional 5,906,313 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,174,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $589,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053,624 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,124,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the first quarter valued at about $72,659,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company is a precious and base metals producer founded in 1891 and headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The company explores for, develops, and operates mines that produce silver, gold, lead, and zinc. Its silver production serves industrial, investment, and other markets, while gold and base metals contribute to its broader mining portfolio.

Hecla’s operating assets have included the Greens Creek mine in southeast Alaska, the Lucky Friday mine in Idaho, the Casa Berardi mine in Quebec, and the Keno Hill silver district in Yukon, Canada.