Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 51,436 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 28% compared to the typical daily volume of 40,185 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 52,219 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 18,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $278,395.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 426,679 shares of company stock valued at $7,678,773 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 20.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,285,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,827,000 after buying an additional 739,360 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,959,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,894,000 after acquiring an additional 380,448 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new stake in Hecla Mining in the second quarter valued at approximately $162,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 6.4% during the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 39,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $12.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.22.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE HL opened at $24.30 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $25.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.39 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.27.

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

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is presently 3.23%.

About Hecla Mining

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.