Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $844,000 in Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE:AESI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 126,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 28,158 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Atlas Energy Solutions by 5.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 518,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,305,000 after acquiring an additional 25,999 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions by 27.9% during the third quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 586,000 shares of the company's stock worth $12,775,000 after acquiring an additional 127,910 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,751,059 shares of the company's stock worth $38,173,000 after acquiring an additional 227,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atlas Energy Solutions by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,448,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,579,000 after purchasing an additional 54,321 shares in the last quarter. 34.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlas Energy Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Brian Anthony Leveille sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $720,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 432,010 shares in the company, valued at $10,376,880.20. This represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Gregory M. Shepard acquired 13,363 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.19 per share, with a total value of $256,435.97. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 7,619,055 shares in the company, valued at $146,209,665.45. The trade was a 0.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 60,869 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,983 and sold 124,642 shares valued at $2,775,121. Insiders own 24.34% of the company's stock.

Atlas Energy Solutions Trading Down 0.0 %

AESI stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.98. The company had a trading volume of 433,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,141. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.93 and a 200 day moving average of $21.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.96. Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.55 and a 52 week high of $24.93.

Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE:AESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $304.40 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 93.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlas Energy Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Atlas Energy Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Atlas Energy Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.