U.S. Silica - SLCA Stock Forecast, Price & News

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. produces and sells commercial silica in the United States. It operates through two segments, Oil & Gas Proppants and Industrial & Specialty Products. The company offers whole grain commercial silica products to be used as fracturing sand in connection with oil and natural gas recovery, as well as sells its whole grain silica products in various size distributions, grain shapes, and chemical purity levels for the manufacturing of glass products. It also provides various grades of whole-grain round silica to the foundry industry; ground silica and industrial minerals products for various products; and engineered performance materials made from diatomaceous earth (DE), clay, and perlite. In addition, the company offers transportation, equipment rental, and contract labor services. It serves oilfield services companies, and exploration and production companies that are engaged in hydraulic fracturing, building products, chemicals, fillers and extenders, filtration, glass, recreation, testing industries, and industrial and specialty products end markets. U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of U.S. Silica from $12.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Silica from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of U.S. Silica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet lowered shares of U.S. Silica from a "c" rating to a "d+" rating in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of U.S. Silica from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 14th.

U.S. Silica Stock Performance

Shares of SLCA traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $14.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,911. U.S. Silica has a 1 year low of $7.22 and a 1 year high of $21.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $12.58 and its 200 day moving average is $14.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA - Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 29th. The mining company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.13. U.S. Silica had a negative net margin of 1.97% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The company had revenue of $388.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that U.S. Silica will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Donald A. Merril sold 40,000 shares of U.S. Silica stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $571,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 236,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,371,165.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Charles W. Shaver sold 25,829 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.06, for a total value of $363,155.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 182,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,568,466.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Donald A. Merril sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $571,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 236,076 shares in the company, valued at $3,371,165.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.