Short Interest in Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI) Rises By 19.6%

Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,650,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the November 15th total of 10,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.9 days. Currently, 19.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AESI. Citigroup cut Atlas Energy Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a research report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atlas Energy Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.67.

Insider Transactions at Atlas Energy Solutions

In other Atlas Energy Solutions news, major shareholder Stacy Hock sold 8,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $184,190.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 934,746 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,691.54. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Gregory M. Shepard acquired 1,797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.65 per share, for a total transaction of $35,311.05. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 7,507,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,516,362.10. The trade was a 0.02 % increase in their position. 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 119,642 shares valued at $2,650,185. 24.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlas Energy Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in Atlas Energy Solutions by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,696,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,740,000 after acquiring an additional 30,082 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Atlas Energy Solutions by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,677,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,362,000 after acquiring an additional 548,620 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Atlas Energy Solutions by 15.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,751,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,173,000 after purchasing an additional 227,776 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in Atlas Energy Solutions by 775.7% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,699,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 34.59% of the company’s stock.

Atlas Energy Solutions Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of AESI opened at $23.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.96. Atlas Energy Solutions has a 52 week low of $15.55 and a 52 week high of $24.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.00.

Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE:AESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $304.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.93 million. Atlas Energy Solutions had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 11.01%. Atlas Energy Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Atlas Energy Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Atlas Energy Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.52%.

About Atlas Energy Solutions

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.