Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,780,000 shares, a decline of 11.3% from the November 30th total of 18,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HL. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. National Bank Financial lowered Hecla Mining from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Hecla Mining from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $44,813,000 after purchasing an additional 456,107 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,210,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $92,499,000 after buying an additional 711,676 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,624,677 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,880,000 after buying an additional 340,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

NYSE HL traded down $0.15 on Monday, reaching $4.86. 12,164,363 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,398,200. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $3.33 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -121.50 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.84.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $232.03 million. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.0138 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is presently -125.00%.

Hecla Mining Company 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.