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

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the mining company’s stock.

Separately, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:SLCA opened at $15.46 on Tuesday. U.S. Silica has a 12-month low of $10.09 and a 12-month high of $16.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.62, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 1.99.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. U.S. Silica had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The company had revenue of $325.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. U.S. Silica’s revenue was down 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Silica will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Silica

In other news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of the 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 owns 160,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,502,445.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Silica

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in U.S. Silica by 198.3% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,720,901 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $57,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138,425 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Silica by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,817,279 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,951 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of U.S. Silica by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,027,823 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,034,000 after purchasing an additional 669,534 shares during the last quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Silica during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,881,000. Finally, Soviero Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in U.S. Silica in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,467,000. 87.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About U.S. Silica

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.