Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smart Sand in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Smart Sand presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Smart Sand Price Performance

NASDAQ:SND opened at $4.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.23. The firm has a market cap of $178.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.33 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.76. Smart Sand has a one year low of $1.76 and a one year high of $5.59.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.00 million. Smart Sand had a negative return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 0.41%. Research analysts expect that Smart Sand will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Smart Sand announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smart Sand news, Director Francis Michael Porcelli sold 150,000 shares of Smart Sand stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.02, for a total value of $603,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 869,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,493,621.20. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 32.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smart Sand

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SND. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smart Sand during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Smart Sand in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Smart Sand during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Smart Sand by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in Smart Sand in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 35.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smart Sand Company Profile

Smart Sand, Inc (NASDAQ:SND) is a U.S.-based industrial mineral company specializing in the mining, processing and distribution of high-purity silica sand. The company’s primary business centers on the production of frac sand for the oil and gas industry, as well as specialty sand products for foundry, glass and construction applications. Through an integrated network of mines, processing plants and trans-load facilities, Smart Sand delivers precision-engineered sand solutions designed to meet stringent performance and purity requirements.

Smart Sand’s operations include flagship mining and processing facilities in Wisconsin, which supply Northern White silica sand, and production sites in Texas, strategically located to serve major U.S.