Stock Alert: Hecla Mining Company Rises 14% On Upbeat Quarterly Results

(RTTNews) - Shares of Hecla Mining Company (HL) are rising more than 14% Thursday morning after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results.

The company reported net income of $18.83 million, or $0.03 per share in the first quarter compared with net loss of $17.32 million or $0.03 per share in the comparable quarter last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings of $0.06 per share beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $0.04 per share.

Sales for the quarter increased 54% year-over-year to $210.85 million, on increased production as well as higher metal prices. The consensus estimate was for $209.04 million.

Hecla Mining has increased the silver -linked dividend at the $25 per ounce silver price threshold by 50% to $0.03 annually. It has also increased each level of the silver-linked dividend by $0.01 per year.

The company also noted that Moody's has upgraded its ratings to B2 from B3.

HL, currently at $7.17, has traded in the range of $2.30- $8.45 in the last 52 weeks.