Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation by 0.8%, owning approximately 1.02% of the company with 1,626,775 shares after selling 12,298 shares in the first quarter.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.1%, now holding over 20 million shares worth approximately $3.21 billion, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Atmos Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.1%, reflecting a steady return for investors.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,626,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,298 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.02% of Atmos Energy worth $251,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the first 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 position in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the first 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 position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the first 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. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 target price (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ATO stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $166.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,010,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,453. The company's fifty day moving average is $157.92 and its 200 day moving average is $154.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $128.12 and a fifty-two week high of $168.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

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.