Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Sold by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC cut its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,083,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,788 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy makes up 11.6% of Sfmg LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $125,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,138 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,188,000 after acquiring an additional 527,261 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,356,000 after acquiring an additional 452,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,090,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,460,000 after acquiring an additional 100,681 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO traded down $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $112.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 973,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,676. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company 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.