StockNews.com Upgrades Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) to “Sell”

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on HL. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $4.60 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. National Bank Financial reissued an “outperform market weight” rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hecla Mining presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.68.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HL opened at $5.54 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.93 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $3.33 and a 1 year high of $7.00.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $160.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.51 million. Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 11.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HL. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the first quarter valued at approximately $111,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 998,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 284,339 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 33,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,886 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Hecla Mining by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 113,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 23,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hecla Mining by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,408,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,535,000 after acquiring an additional 279,688 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.