Altus Wealth Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,314,641,000 after buying an additional 127,199 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,243,000 after buying an additional 83,661 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,550,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $180,834,000 after buying an additional 19,981 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,521,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,506,000 after buying an additional 66,345 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,558,000 after buying an additional 9,253 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.84. 91,336 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 873,417. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $135.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $105.44 and a 1 year high of $144.32.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.94.

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.