Hecla Mining Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 51,174 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 42% compared to the average volume of 36,160 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 18,535 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $278,395.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 2,390.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 255.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital set a $8.75 price objective on Hecla Mining and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. CIBC raised their price target on Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Hecla Mining in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE HL opened at $18.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.65 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.46 and a one year high of $20.19.

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

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.23%.

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.