Yahoo Finance U.S. Silica (SLCA) Hits New 52-Week High: What's Driving It?
Shares of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. SLCA, a leading producer of commercial silica, touched a fresh 52-week high of $58.99 on Jan 19 before retracing to close the day at $57.49.
U.S. Silica has a market cap of roughly $4.6 billion and average volume of shares traded in the last three months is around 2,012.3K. The company has an expected long-term EPS growth of around 11%.
U.S. Silica has outperformed the Zacks categorized Mining - Miscellaneous industry over the past six months, partly owing to its cost reduction and operational efficiency improvement measures. The company’s shares have gained around 59.2 % over this period, compared with roughly 38.1% gain recorded by the industry.
Factors to Consider
U.S. Silica’s healthy balance sheet provides it with ample opportunities for making strategic investments that will ensure its long-term competitive position in the market. The company’s decision to raise capital enhanced its financial flexibility and reinforced its balance sheet.
The company is executing many cost improvement projects throughout its supply chain. It has delivered more than $50 million in cost savings on a year over year basis this year. Moreover, the company remains focused on preserving capital by giving priority to critical maintenance projects and is also boosting its market position.
As part of its investment strategy, U.S. Silica purchased the NBR Sand unit of New Birmingham Inc., a privately-owned industrial minerals and logistics company which allows the company to expand its product offering and capacity in the regional sands market, and enhance customer satisfaction. The company is optimistic about the growth of the regional sand market and is looking to create a strong foothold in the same.
U.S. Silica has also acquired logistics solutions provider, Sandbox Enterprises LLC. This acquisition will allow the company to offer its customers significantly improved transportation and operating efficiencies and meaningful cost savings relative to the existing delivery systems. The acquisition is also expected to deliver earnings accretion of between 20 cents and 30 cents per share in 2017.
U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus
U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus | U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. Quote
U.S. Silica is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked companies in the mining industry include BHP Billiton Ltd BHP, BHP Billiton PLC BBL and Teck Resources Ltd TECK, all sporting Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
BHP Billiton Ltd has a long term estimated growth of around 5.6%
BHP Billiton PLC has a long term estimated growth of around 5.6%.
Teck Resources has a long term estimated growth of around 10.7%.
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