Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Has $669,000 Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors’ holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 281.3% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,208,000 after purchasing an additional 415,054 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after acquiring an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,141 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,957,000 after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $1,876,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.01. 139,427 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 895,559. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $132.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.61 and its 200-day moving average is $118.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.17.

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.