Trek Financial LLC Makes New $2.30 Million Investment in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 467,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,295,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 28.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 2,944 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 32,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In other news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $47,630.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 104,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,372.16. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial upgraded Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Trading Down 12.1 %

NYSE HL opened at $4.71 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.80. Hecla Mining has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $7.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.12 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million for 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 forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0038 per share. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.00%.

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.