Woodline Partners LP Purchases Shares of 9,322 Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho downgraded 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.35.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.26. 173,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 929,249. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $111.48 and a twelve month high of $167.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.85 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

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 now directly owns 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.