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SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 5,813 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Atmos Energy logo with Utilities background

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 248.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 107,700 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $432,749,000 after acquiring an additional 223,809 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58,391 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $151.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $113.46 and a twelve month high of $167.45. The company has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.83.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. Atmos Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ATO. Wolfe Research began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Mizuho cut shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.35.

Read Our Latest Report on ATO

Atmos Energy Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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