StockNews.com Upgrades Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) to Hold

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on HL. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.25.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Hecla Mining stock traded down $0.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $5.43. The company had a trading volume of 33,086,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,514,309. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.86. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $3.40 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.63 and a beta of 1.91.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 2.27% and a positive return on equity of 0.75%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 771.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.