U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) has been assigned a $45.00 price target by Cowen in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the mining company’s stock. Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.42% from the company’s current price.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SLCA. Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Silica in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of U.S. Silica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. SunTrust Banks reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of U.S. Silica in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of U.S. Silica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $44.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Silica and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.60.
Shares of U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) opened at $38.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3,086.66, a P/E ratio of 41.76 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. U.S. Silica has a 1 year low of $24.26 and a 1 year high of $61.49.
U.S. Silica declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
In other U.S. Silica news, CEO Bryan Adair Shinn bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $31.30 per share, with a total value of $125,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 88,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,779,659.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bradford B. Casper sold 8,700 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction on Monday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.21, for a total transaction of $297,627.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,066.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 bought and sold shares of SLCA. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 13.9% during the second quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 408,530 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $14,499,000 after buying an additional 49,767 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 2.5% during the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 135,050 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,793,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 48.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 5,156 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in U.S. Silica by 89.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 237,090 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,415,000 after buying an additional 112,120 shares during the period. Finally, AXA purchased a new position in U.S. Silica during the second quarter worth $355,000.
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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.
