Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its position in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 110,609 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Hecla Mining were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Krcmarov purchased 6,570 shares of Hecla Mining stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.29 per share, for a total transaction of $34,755.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,518.24. This trade represents a 2.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,559.20. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,915 shares of company stock worth $300,000. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

Shares of Hecla Mining stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.85. 14,385,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,345,184. Hecla Mining has a 52-week low of $4.41 and a 52-week high of $7.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.72 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.68.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HL shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Hecla Mining to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $5.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hecla Mining from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.75.

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.