2,035 Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Purchased by Paloma Partners Management Co

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 275.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Atmos Energy by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

ATO stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $128.01. 124,709 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 900,507. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $128.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

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.