SteelPeak Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 187.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho increased their target price 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 lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.71.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

ATO traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $128.98. 846,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 909,217. The company has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $132.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.46.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

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.