U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) Price Target Raised to $15.50 at Citigroup

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $13.50 to $15.50 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the mining company’s stock.

U.S. Silica Stock Performance

SLCA opened at $15.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 3.62 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 2.16. U.S. Silica has a 1-year low of $10.09 and a 1-year high of $16.03.

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The mining company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $325.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.59 million. U.S. Silica had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 13.77%. U.S. Silica’s quarterly revenue was down 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that U.S. Silica will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total transaction of $662,507.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,445.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other U.S. Silica news, EVP James Derek Ussery sold 46,433 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $650,062.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,446,808. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total value of $662,507.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,445.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,038 shares of company stock worth $1,552,570 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Silica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLCA. Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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 valued at $57,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138,425 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Silica by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,817,279 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $43,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,951 shares during the last quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Silica in the 4th quarter worth about $5,881,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in U.S. Silica by 103.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 810,506 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $11,380,000 after purchasing an additional 412,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soviero Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Silica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,467,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

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.