Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Grows Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) by 156.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,970 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HL. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Benin Management CORP raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 32,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 3,548 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Price Performance

NYSE:HL opened at $4.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.12 and a beta of 1.77. Hecla Mining has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $7.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Equities analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. TD Securities cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm cut their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

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.