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

Key Points

• Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 42.7% in August, reaching a total of 207,700 shares.
• The company recently received an upgrade from Wall Street Zen, changing its rating from "hold" to "buy" as of August 16th.
• Smart Sand announced a $0.10 special dividend paid to shareholders on August 14th, enhancing investor returns.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 207,700 shares, an increase of 42.7% from the July 31st total of 145,600 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 94,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 94,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Smart Sand

In other Smart Sand news, CEO Charles Edwin Young acquired 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was 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 $2,822,269.48. This represents a 1.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 39,031 shares of company stock valued at $74,421 in the last three months. 34.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smart Sand

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its stake in Smart Sand by 18.1% during the second quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,039,861 shares of the company's stock worth $4,100,000 after buying an additional 312,789 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smart Sand by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 824,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 113,612 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smart Sand by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 569,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 14,390 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Smart Sand by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 506,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 118,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smart Sand by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 444,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 6,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.21% of the company's stock.

Smart Sand Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SND traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $1.89. The stock had a trading volume of 95,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 79,475. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.04. The stock has a market cap of $82.33 million, a PE ratio of 189.00 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.86. Smart Sand has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.80.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $85.77 million for 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Smart Sand will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

About Smart Sand

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.