Gregory Shepard, a major holder at Atlas Energy Solutions (AESI), recently bought 3,248 shares. The buy increased his holdings by less than 1%, and came to a total cost of $70,417.
He was a buyer earlier in July for 30,013 shares, paying just over $588,255 to do so. And he made two purchases in June for just under $1.5 million. Going further back, insiders, largely major shareholders, were likely to be sellers, not buyers of AESI.
Overall, Atlas Energy insiders own 42.7% of shares.
The oil and gas equipment services company is up less than 5% over the past year, far underperforming the overall stock market. However, that’s in-line with energy prices, which have run largely flat.
Atlas has had a mixed year operationally. Earnings have slid by 58%, but revenues are up by over 25%.
Atlas trades at 12 times earnings, making shares significantly cheaper than the overall market.
Action to take: Investors may like shares in the low $20 range or under, which is a sufficient pullback from the 52-week high near $25. At current prices, Atlas pays a 4.3% dividend, and likely has more upside that will be tied to rising energy prices.
For traders, the October $22.50 calls, last trading for about $0.65, could see high double-digit returns in the coming months. The option is priced midway between current prices and the 52-week high, so plays well as a rebound trade.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.