900 Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Bought by Slocum Gordon & Co LLP

Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,884 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Edward Geiser bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $144.89 per share, with a total value of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,003.78. This trade represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $143.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.45 and a 200 day moving average of $138.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.46 and a 12 month high of $152.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 8.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.66%.

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.