Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,509 Shares of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SLCA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SLCA) by 0.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 400,476 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,509 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Silica were worth $4,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Findell Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Silica during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,881,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Silica by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,817,279 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,951 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Silica by 649.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 155,812 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 135,016 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Silica by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,235 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Silica by 12.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,040,426 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $14,608,000 after purchasing an additional 114,579 shares during the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Silica Price Performance

SLCA remained flat at $15.44 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 447,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,482. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.99. U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.09 and a 12 month high of $16.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.93.

U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The mining company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $325.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.59 million. U.S. Silica had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 8.08%. The firm’s revenue was down 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Silica

In other U.S. Silica news, EVP Zach Carusona sold 42,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total transaction of $662,507.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 160,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,445.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SLCA. StockNews.com began coverage on U.S. Silica in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on U.S. Silica from $13.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

U.S. Silica Profile

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 frac for oil and natural gas recovery, as well as sells its whole grain silica products for the manufacturing of glass products.