Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 885,900 Shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,788,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 885,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.60% of Hecla Mining worth $18,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Hecla Mining by 771.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hecla Mining Stock Down 3.1 %

HL stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.81. The stock had a trading volume of 16,532,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,114,291. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.12 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.71. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on 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 cut Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hecla Mining news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $167,764.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Krcmarov acquired 6,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $34,755.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 331,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,755,518.24. This represents a 2.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.