Short Interest in United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. (NASDAQ:USLM) Declines By 12.6%

United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. (NASDAQ:USLM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 467,300 shares, a decline of 12.6% from the April 30th total of 534,900 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 94,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised United States Lime & Minerals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Lime & Minerals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USLM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of United States Lime & Minerals by 13.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 808,373 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,444,000 after purchasing an additional 94,149 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in United States Lime & Minerals by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 507,541 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $67,372,000 after purchasing an additional 28,947 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of United States Lime & Minerals by 3.5% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 339,786 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $30,030,000 after acquiring an additional 11,432 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United States Lime & Minerals by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,531 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,759,000 after acquiring an additional 6,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in United States Lime & Minerals by 33.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 293,483 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,938,000 after buying an additional 73,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.12% of the company's stock.

United States Lime & Minerals Price Performance

Shares of United States Lime & Minerals stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $106.15. 233,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 97,708. United States Lime & Minerals has a 1-year low of $64.25 and a 1-year high of $159.53. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $97.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.30.

United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $91.25 million during the quarter. United States Lime & Minerals had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 34.27%.

United States Lime & Minerals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. United States Lime & Minerals's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.71%.

About United States Lime & Minerals

United States Lime & Minerals, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of lime and limestone products. Its products include High Calcium Quicklime, Hydrated Lime, Lime Kiln Dust, Lime Slurry, and High Calcium Limestone. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.