Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.52, but opened at $5.26. Hecla Mining shares last traded at $5.33, with a volume of 1,153,531 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.25 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. National Bank Financial lowered Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.94.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.75 and a beta of 2.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. The business had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.0138 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is -125.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total value of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,949. The trade was a 38.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HL. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 1st quarter worth $42,576,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining during the second quarter valued at $19,714,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 4.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,559 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at about $14,623,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,258,000 after buying an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

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.