New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $3.32 Million Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 20.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 109,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,969,000 after acquiring an additional 18,753 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Argus set a $172.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.9%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $173.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $27.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $136.05 and a one year high of $179.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.42.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

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.