Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HL shares. Wall Street Zen cut Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Roth Mkm set a $13.00 price objective on Hecla Mining in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $36.50 to $26.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Hecla Mining stock opened at $16.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 4.53, a current ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.03. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $5.47 and a 12-month high of $34.17.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $411.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.63 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 17.41%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at $1,785,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 38.0% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 6,472,566 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,620,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,949 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $15,433,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 374.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,277,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586,464 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.