Duality Advisers LP Sells 14,731 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Duality Advisers LP lessened its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,731 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Atmos Energy stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.66. The stock had a trading volume of 688,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 827,680. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $115.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.90. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ATO. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.33.

About Atmos Energy

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.