Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) is Sfmg LLC’s Largest Position

Sfmg LLC reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 period. Atmos Energy accounts for about 11.6% of Sfmg LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Sfmg LLC owned approximately 0.72% of Atmos Energy worth $125,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 11,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ATO traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.33. The company had a trading volume of 973,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,676. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

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.