Hecla Mining (HL) Stock Surges on Better-Than-Expected Q1 Profit

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Hecla Mining (HL) - Get Report shares are jumping by 5.93% to $4.11 on Thursday afternoon, following the precious metal producer's 2016 first quarter results, which were released earlier this morning. Profit came in ahead of expectations, while revenue was slightly under. 

Adjusted earnings came in at 2 cents a share, beating Wall Street's forecasts by a penny.

Revenue of $131 million however, fell short of estimates of $132.78 million.

A year ago, the company reported a profit of 2 cents a share on revenue of $119 million. 

The company said it saw a record silver production of 4.6 million ounces in the recent period. Total gold production was 55,688 ounces. 

"Consistent with our strategy to grow despite price weakness, the first quarter production was the highest in our 500 quarter history," CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. said. 

Also giving shares a lift today were climbing silver and gold prices. Silver for July delivery is edging higher by 0.11% to $17.32 per ounce and gold for August delivery is up by 0.03% to $1,274.80 per ounce on the COMEX this afternoon.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock with a letter grade of C.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: HL