GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $147,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 43.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 734 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Geller Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $152.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $113.46 and a 52 week high of $167.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.01 and a 200-day moving average of $148.86.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. Atmos Energy’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho downgraded Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.35.

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.