Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently commented on ATO. Mizuho downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.35.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ATO
Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of ATO traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $155.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 219,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,236. The company's 50-day moving average is $154.89 and its 200-day moving average is $147.84. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $167.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.33%.
About Atmos Energy
(
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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