Delta Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 690 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ATO traded down $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $114.23. 123,399 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $114.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.50. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

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.