Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Smart Sand's rating has been upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, suggesting increased investor confidence in the stock.
• The company reported earnings of ($0.01) per share for the previous quarter, beating analysts' expectations of ($0.03) and achieving $85.77 million in revenue against a consensus estimate of $60 million.
• Institutional investors currently own 35.21% of Smart Sand's stock, with notable recent increases in stakes by several hedge funds.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Smart Sand Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of SND traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.98. 57,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,360. Smart Sand has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $86.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.00 and a beta of 0.83.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $85.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.00 million. Smart Sand had a negative return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 0.26%. Research analysts expect that Smart Sand will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Smart Sand Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the second quarter valued at $82,000. 35.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smart Sand Company Profile

Smart Sand, Inc, an integrated frac and industrial sand supply and services company, engages in the excavation, processing, and sale of sands or proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It also provides proppant logistics services; and wellsite storage solutions through SmartSystems products and services.