Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 228,236 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 2,457.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 228,236 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned about 0.16% of Atmos Energy worth $27,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $119.05. 529,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 812,633. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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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