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

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) had its price target boosted by analysts at Citigroup from $13.50 to $15.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the mining company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential downside of 0.06% from the company’s previous close.

U.S. Silica Price Performance

SLCA opened at $15.51 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.62. U.S. Silica has a 52 week low of $10.09 and a 52 week high of $16.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 2.16.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Silica news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 160,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,502,445.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other U.S. Silica news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 160,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,502,445.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Derek Ussery sold 46,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 109,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,552,570. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Silica

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 90.4% in the 4th 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. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 649.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 155,812 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 135,016 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,040,426 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $14,608,000 after purchasing an additional 114,579 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in U.S. Silica in the 3rd quarter worth $187,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Silica in the 3rd quarter worth $806,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.