Hecla Mining (HL 1.84%) stock was quite a winner on Monday, but not because of anything the company extracted from the ground. Rather, investors piled into the mining company because of its ascension to a closely followed stock index. This boosted the company's share price by more than 12%, which made it quite the outperformer next to the S&P 500's (^GSPC 0.26%) 0.2% rise.
Index ascension
That news hit the headlines after market hours Friday, after being divulged in a press release from index company S&P Global. Every quarter S&P Global's S&P Dow Jones Indices unit makes adjustments to its slate of influential stock indexes, and Hecla was involved in the latest set of changes.
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Specifically, Hecla will become a component of the S&P SmallCap 600 index. It is one of 10 stocks tapped for inclusion, collectively replacing another 10 that are being deleted for various reasons. Other S&P SmallCap 600 members-to-be include fast food sector mainstay Wendy's and veteran staffing specialist ManpowerGroup.
As with all S&P Global index adjustments for this quarter, that for Hecla will take effect prior to the start of trading on Monday, Sept. 22.
Upward momentum sustained
Inclusion on the S&P SmallCap 600 added to the already-positive investor sentiment on Hecla. The stock has been a popular title since the company reported its second-quarter results in early August; these revealed a nearly 24% year-over-year increase in revenue (to $304 million), and a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net profit that more than doubled on a per-share basis -- to $0.09 per share from $0.04.
