Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) experienced a 28.6% decrease in short interest in August, with a total of 148,400 shares shorted as of August 31st.
• CEO Charles Edwin Young purchased 20,000 shares at $1.91 each, increasing his ownership stake by 1.37%.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Smart Sand from a "hold" to a "buy" rating on August 16th, reflecting increased confidence in the company's performance.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 148,400 shares, a decline of 28.6% from the August 15th total of 207,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 87,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 87,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity at Smart Sand

In other Smart Sand news, CEO Charles Edwin Young acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.91 per share, for a total transaction of $38,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,477,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,822,269.48. The trade was a 1.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 39,031 shares of company stock valued at $74,421 in the last quarter. 34.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smart Sand

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SND. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand during the second quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,000. 35.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Smart Sand from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th.

Smart Sand Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ SND opened at $1.88 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $1.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Smart Sand has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.89 million, a P/E ratio of 188.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Smart Sand had a negative return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 0.26%.The company had revenue of $85.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Smart Sand will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Smart Sand Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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