Man Group plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Man Group plc lowered its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 32,675 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 5,117 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 7,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 6,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $992,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $47,817,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Mizuho downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.35.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE ATO traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $157.27. 984,665 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 934,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $167.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.09.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

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.