Short Interest in Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI) Expands By 11.1%

Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,580,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the October 31st total of 9,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.2 days. Currently, 16.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AESI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays cut shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Stacy Hock sold 8,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $184,190.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 934,746 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,691.54. This represents a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Gregory M. Shepard purchased 1,797 shares of Atlas Energy Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.65 per share, with a total value of $35,311.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,507,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,516,362.10. This represents a 0.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 60,869 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,983 and sold 115,713 shares valued at $2,517,431. 24.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlas Energy Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AESI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Atlas Energy Solutions by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,615,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,409,000 after acquiring an additional 33,286 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Atlas Energy Solutions by 1.1% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,696,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,740,000 after buying an additional 30,082 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Atlas Energy Solutions by 25.8% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,677,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,362,000 after buying an additional 548,620 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Atlas Energy Solutions by 19.8% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,884,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,072,000 after buying an additional 311,228 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Atlas Energy Solutions by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,751,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,173,000 after acquiring an additional 227,776 shares in the last quarter. 34.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atlas Energy Solutions Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of AESI stock opened at $24.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.96. Atlas Energy Solutions has a 1 year low of $15.55 and a 1 year high of $24.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE:AESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.25). Atlas Energy Solutions had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The business had revenue of $304.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Atlas Energy Solutions’s revenue was up 93.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Atlas Energy Solutions will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Atlas Energy Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Atlas Energy Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Atlas Energy Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.52%.

Atlas Energy Solutions Company Profile

Atlas Energy Solutions Inc engages in the production, processing, and sale of mesh and sand that are used as a proppant during the well completion process in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. The company provides transportation and logistics, storage solutions, and contract labor services. It sells its products and services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, and oilfield services companies.