U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) has been given a $44.00 target price by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the mining company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 35.80% from the stock’s previous close.
A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of U.S. Silica in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Jefferies Group set a $40.00 price objective on U.S. Silica and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 28th. BidaskClub upgraded U.S. Silica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded U.S. Silica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, ValuEngine cut U.S. Silica from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.35.
U.S. Silica (SLCA) traded up $1.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,873,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,048. The company has a market cap of $2,526.20, a PE ratio of 34.18 and a beta of 2.32. U.S. Silica has a 52-week low of $24.26 and a 52-week high of $61.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.67 and a quick ratio of 3.26.
U.S. Silica announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
In related news, CEO Bryan Adair Shinn bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.30 per share, for a total transaction of $125,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,807 shares in the company, valued at $2,779,659.10. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles W. Shaver bought 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.99 per share, with a total value of $112,167.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 29,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,013,887.71. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 7,900 shares of company stock valued at $256,063. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLCA. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Silica by 64,463.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,076,290 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $435,571,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062,232 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Silica during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,958,000. Shelton Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Silica during the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Silica by 111.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,777,081 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $63,069,000 after acquiring an additional 935,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of U.S. Silica by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,663,238 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $94,554,000 after acquiring an additional 696,893 shares during the last quarter.
U.S. Silica Company Profile
U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc is a domestic producer of commercial silica, a specialized mineral that is an input into a range of end markets. The Company operates in two segments: Oil & Gas Proppants, and Industrial & Specialty Products. In the Oil & Gas Proppants segment, it serves the oil and gas recovery market providing fracturing sand, or frac sand, which is pumped down oil and natural gas wells to prop open rock fissures and manage the flow rate of natural gas and oil from the wells.
