HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 5,884 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,884 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $10,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 1,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock traded up $0.6750 during trading on Thursday, hitting $166.7650. 206,930 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 971,151. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $156.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.98. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $128.12 and a twelve month high of $167.85. The company has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.69.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The business had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 47.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Company 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.