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

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $13.50 to $15.50 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the mining company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.06% from the stock’s previous close.

U.S. Silica Stock Performance

SLCA stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,067,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,093,483. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.69. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 2.23. 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 twelve month low of $10.09 and a twelve month high of $16.03.

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The mining company reported $0.20 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $325.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. U.S. Silica’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Silica will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,502,445.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Stacy Russell sold 20,000 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $240,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 186,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,024. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total transaction of $662,507.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,502,445.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,552,570 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Silica

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Silica in the 1st quarter valued at about $148,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in U.S. Silica by 198.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in U.S. Silica in the first quarter valued at approximately $186,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Silica by 25.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,773 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Silica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.