Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smart Sand in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Smart Sand presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Smart Sand Trading Up 13.6%

Shares of Smart Sand stock opened at $3.85 on Friday. Smart Sand has a 1 year low of $1.76 and a 1 year high of $4.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $2.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.30. The company has a market capitalization of $167.63 million, a P/E ratio of 42.78 and a beta of 0.38.

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.11. Smart Sand had a negative return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 1.16%.The company had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.00 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Smart Sand will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smart Sand Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smart Sand

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JB Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Smart Sand by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 460,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Smart Sand by 3.6% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 589,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Smart Sand by 3.8% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 286,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 10,444 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in Smart Sand by 625.9% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 115,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 99,706 shares during the period. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 312,789 shares during the last quarter. 35.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Smart Sand

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.