KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $608,000 Investment in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 123,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HL. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 173,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP lifted its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 32,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities downgraded Hecla Mining from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $6.50 to $5.50 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial raised Hecla Mining to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Five investment 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, Hecla Mining currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hecla Mining

In other news, CAO Michael L. Clary sold 32,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value 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 approximately $1,276,559.20. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell Douglas Lawlar sold 16,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $84,604.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,551.94. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,915 shares of company stock valued at $300,000 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 2.7 %

HL opened at $5.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 112.62 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Hecla Mining has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $7.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.61 and its 200 day moving average is $5.83.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last posted its 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). Hecla Mining had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.21 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0038 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

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.