Seven Eight Capital LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Seven Eight Capital LP reduced its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 69.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,057 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,314,641,000 after buying an additional 127,199 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,243,000 after purchasing an additional 83,661 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,008,000 after purchasing an additional 242,722 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE ATO traded up $1.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $125.90. 837,727 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 910,807. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.67.

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.