Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,990 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $8,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,136,463,000 after purchasing an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $432,749,000 after purchasing an additional 223,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,732,000 after buying an additional 58,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 172,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ATO. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho cut Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.95.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO traded up $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 751,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,617. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $154.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.84. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $121.81 and a 12 month high of $167.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.70.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. Atmos Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Atmos Energy 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.