Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Short Interest Up 49.6% in March
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemSmart Sand (NASDAQ:SND – Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 598,024 shares, a growth of 49.6% from the March 15th total of 399,859 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 434,689 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.
Smart Sand Trading Down 5.2%
Shares of Smart Sand stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.76. 351,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 396,154. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.24 million, a P/E ratio of 158.67 and a beta of 0.36. Smart Sand has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $5.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.14.
Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.00 million. Smart Sand had a negative return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 0.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Smart Sand will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Smart Sand Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd.
Smart Sand declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Smart Sand news, Director Francis Michael Porcelli sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.87, for a total transaction of $290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 744,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,512.20. This represents a 9.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 375,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,485,250. 34.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smart Sand by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Smart Sand by 1.5% during 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smart Sand in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Smart Sand by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 161,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 10,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Smart Sand by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 286,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 10,444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.21% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SND shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smart Sand in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Smart Sand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.
Get Our Latest Research Report on SND
Smart Sand Company Profile
Smart Sand, Inc (NASDAQ:SND) is a U.S.-based industrial mineral company specializing in the mining, processing and distribution of high-purity silica sand. The company’s primary business centers on the production of frac sand for the oil and gas industry, as well as specialty sand products for foundry, glass and construction applications. Through an integrated network of mines, processing plants and trans-load facilities, Smart Sand delivers precision-engineered sand solutions designed to meet stringent performance and purity requirements.
Smart Sand’s operations include flagship mining and processing facilities in Wisconsin, which supply Northern White silica sand, and production sites in Texas, strategically located to serve major U.S.