Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Position Lifted by Brighton Jones LLC

Key Points

• Brighton Jones LLC increased its Atmos Energy stake by 263.1% in the third quarter, to 16,047 shares valued at about $2.51 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.17% of the stock.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $183.36; recent target changes ranged from $174 to $185.
• Atmos Energy beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.17 versus $1.14 forecast, and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.00 to $1.09 per share.

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 263.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,627 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 627.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Downshift Financial LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 2,514.3% in the third quarter. Downshift Financial LLC now owns 183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Atmos Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $198.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $174.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $173.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $164.97 and a 200 day moving average of $174.26. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.72 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $837.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 9.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.09 per share. This is an increase from Atmos Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.00%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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