Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position 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 & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.1 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $150.12 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $154.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.01.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 49.57%.

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.