Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Increases Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 62.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $7,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho cut Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.4%

ATO stock opened at $156.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.84. 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 $110.97 and a twelve month high of $167.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 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.

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