Vanguard Group Inc. Has $301.44 Million Stock Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 774,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.77% of Hecla Mining worth $301,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter valued at $18,441,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,258,000 after buying an additional 1,842,991 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hecla Mining by 43.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $92,499,000 after acquiring an additional 711,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 909,811 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,069,000 after acquiring an additional 691,862 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Hecla Mining Trading Up 12.1 %

HL traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.28. 38,899,941 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,835,506. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.62 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $5.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.75. 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 has a 1-year low of $4.41 and a 1-year high of $7.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HL. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities cut Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Five 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Insider Activity at Hecla Mining

In other Hecla Mining news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the firm's 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 $167,764.66. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % 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 worth $300,000 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.