Hecla Mining Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 16,021 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average daily volume of 11,165 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kurt Allen sold 108,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.77, for a total transaction of $735,303.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,949. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Hecla Mining by 6.8% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,513,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $291,070,000 after buying an additional 3,827,580 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,420,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,573 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 34,644,620 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $168,027,000 after purchasing an additional 146,689 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hecla Mining during the first quarter valued at about $42,576,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 17.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,219,231 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HL traded up $0.08 on Monday, hitting $7.39. 15,644,446 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,804,679. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $6.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.20 and a beta of 2.01. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.33 and a 12 month high of $7.56.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 5.56% and a negative return on equity of 0.42%. The business had revenue of $245.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.0138 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Hecla Mining's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $10.25 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Hecla Mining from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Hecla Mining from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.56.

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.