Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Acquired by NovaPoint Capital LLC

NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,355,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,884 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $144.89 per share, with a total value of $362,225.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at $377,003.78. This trade represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Mizuho increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ATO opened at $145.01 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.46 and a 1-year high of $152.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.15. The stock has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 25.04%. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 50.66%.

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.