JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,189,473 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 707,712 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.67% of Hecla Mining worth $20,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HL. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 48,786 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 15,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Hecla Mining in the fourth quarter valued at $608,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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Insider Transactions at Hecla Mining

In other news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kurt Allen sold 9,195 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 $47,630.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,372.16. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE:HL traded up $0.21 on Wednesday, reaching $6.10. 4,059,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,997,734. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $5.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.12 and a beta of 1.77. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. Equities analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining's 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.