Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) COO Rodriguez Carlos Robert Aguiar Sells 5,170 Shares

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) COO Rodriguez Carlos Robert Aguiar sold 5,170 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $26,780.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,178 shares in the company, valued at $710,582.04. This trade represents a 3.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Shares of HL opened at $5.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.87. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 104.52 and a beta of 1.91.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 7.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,813,000 after acquiring an additional 456,107 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 3rd quarter worth $1,210,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,499,000 after buying an additional 711,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Hecla Mining by 378.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 897,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,985,000 after buying an additional 709,576 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on HL. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. National Bank Financial lowered Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.00.

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.