Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Position Boosted by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 22.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 187.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ATO traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 620,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,895. The business has a fifty day moving average of $117.45 and a 200 day moving average of $116.15. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $127.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.