1,599,731 Shares in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,599,731 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $7,855,000. Norges Bank owned 0.25% of Hecla Mining as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,441,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,481,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,223,000 after buying an additional 1,059,929 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $301,440,000 after buying an additional 774,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hecla Mining by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $92,499,000 after acquiring an additional 711,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 317.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 909,811 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,069,000 after acquiring an additional 691,862 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

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Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HL traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $5.80. 1,550,876 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,930,132. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $4.41 and a 1-year high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.14 and a beta of 1.77. The company's 50-day moving average price is $5.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.72.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $249.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. This represents a 5.20 % decrease 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, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,755,518.24. The trade was a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining 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.