U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the mining company’s stock.

Separately, Citigroup raised their target price on U.S. Silica from $13.50 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

U.S. Silica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLCA opened at $15.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.62, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. U.S. Silica has a 1 year low of $10.09 and a 1 year high of $16.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 2.16.

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The mining company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. U.S. Silica had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 8.08%. The business had revenue of $325.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.59 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. U.S. Silica’s quarterly revenue was down 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Silica will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Silica

In other U.S. Silica news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total transaction of $662,507.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,445.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP James Derek Ussery sold 46,433 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $650,062.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,446,808. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total value of $662,507.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,445.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,038 shares of company stock worth $1,552,570 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Silica

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in U.S. Silica by 198.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,720,901 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $57,839,000 after buying an additional 3,138,425 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in U.S. Silica by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,817,279 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,173,000 after buying an additional 1,811,951 shares in the last quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Silica during the fourth quarter worth about $5,881,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in U.S. Silica by 103.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 810,506 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $11,380,000 after buying an additional 412,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soviero Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in U.S. Silica during the fourth quarter worth about $4,467,000. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Silica Company Profile

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc produces and sells commercial silica in the United States. It operates through two segments: Oil & Gas Proppants and Industrial & Specialty Products. The company offers whole grain commercial silica products to be used as frac for oil and natural gas recovery, as well as sells its whole grain silica products for the manufacturing of glass products.