Van ECK Associates Corp Has $241.28 Million Stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,141,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,538,729 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 7.82% of Hecla Mining worth $241,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 42,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 4,921 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 5,772 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,351 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 90.8% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 313,094 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 149,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Hecla Mining Stock Performance

HL traded down $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.43. The stock had a trading volume of 33,086,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,514,309. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -135.63 and a beta of 1.91. Hecla Mining has a 12 month low of $3.40 and a 12 month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.86.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.21 million. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. Analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Hecla Mining's dividend payout ratio is -125.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Hecla Mining from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.25.

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.