Board of the Pension Protection Fund Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $958,000. Atmos Energy accounts for approximately 1.1% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth $273,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $10,319,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $298,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 248.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho lowered Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 target price on Atmos Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.05.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE ATO traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $152.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,551,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 923,138. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $113.46 and a 12 month high of $167.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company's 50-day moving average price is $156.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.29. The company has a market capitalization of $24.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. 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.