First Eagle Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,892,228 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 187,400 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Hecla Mining worth $9,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,441,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the third quarter valued at about $14,623,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 51.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,991 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 43.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,481,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.4% during 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. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,551.94. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $167,764.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HL. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.75.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE:HL traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,089,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,835,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.04 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day moving average is $5.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.72 and a beta of 1.94.

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

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

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