Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,080,000 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 19,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 148.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 23,457 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Hecla Mining by 19.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 185,990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 30,379 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hecla Mining by 8.7% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 109,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 8,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,573 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL traded up $0.16 on Monday, hitting $5.66. 13,963,733 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,292,087. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.52 and a 200-day moving average of $5.87. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $3.33 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of -141.38 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.0138 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is -125.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HL. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. National Bank Financial cut Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Roth Mkm dropped 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. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.94.

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.