Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Takes $453,000 Position in Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new position in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 20,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Atlas Energy Solutions during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $323,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 518,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,305,000 after acquiring an additional 25,999 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Atlas Energy Solutions by 101.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Atlas Energy Solutions by 69.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 14,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Atlas Energy Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Brian Anthony Leveille sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $115,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 404,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,303,730. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Gregory M. Shepard acquired 32,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.04 per share, with a total value of $612,231.20. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 7,651,210 shares in the company, valued at $145,679,038.40. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock worth $1,164,750 over the last three months. 24.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atlas Energy Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE AESI opened at $18.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49 and a beta of 1.18. Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.98 and a twelve month high of $26.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE:AESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.12). Atlas Energy Solutions had a return on equity of 11.01% and a net margin of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $271.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.94 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Atlas Energy Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Atlas Energy Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Atlas Energy Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 178.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AESI shares. Stephens raised their target price on Atlas Energy Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.50 price objective on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Atlas Energy Solutions in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Atlas Energy Solutions from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.83.

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.