Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,100 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Atmos Energy worth $24,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 91.2% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 176,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,477,000 after purchasing an additional 35,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 48,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,689,000 after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Mizuho lowered Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Argus raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.35.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO 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 fifty-two week low of $113.46 and a fifty-two week high of $167.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.86.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.