Possible Bearish Signals With Hecla Mining Insiders Disposing Stock

In the last year, many Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Vice President of Exploration, Kurt Allen, sold US$735k worth of shares at a price of US$6.77 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$4.91). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

In total, Hecla Mining insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Are Hecla Mining Insiders Buying Or Selling?

Senior VP & COO Carlos Aguiar bought just US$33.8 worth of shares in that time. That's not much at all. Overall, we don't think these recent trades are particularly informative, one way or the other.

Insider Ownership Of Hecla Mining

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 1.0% of Hecla Mining shares, worth about US$30m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Hecla Mining Insider Transactions Indicate?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. That said, the purchases were not large. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Hecla Mining insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Hecla Mining. While conducting our analysis, we found that Hecla Mining has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

Of course Hecla Mining may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.