Avior Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Avior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 411,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,725,000 after purchasing an additional 20,520 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,043,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $114.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.50.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. 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 2.81%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.