Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Sold by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $119.59. 1,878,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 817,412. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated natural gas distribution, and pipeline and storage businesses in the United States. It operates through two segments, Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage. The Distribution segment is involved in the regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations in eight states.