XTX Topco Ltd Invests $905,000 in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Veritable L.P. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 10.5% during the first quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 5,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in Atmos Energy by 282.7% during the first quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 13,385 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 545,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,340,000 after purchasing an additional 8,071 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 27.1% during the first quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 2,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $114.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.62. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $97.71 and a one year high of $125.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $662.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.54 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 19.02% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $1,468,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 212,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,952,711.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ATO. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $126.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.00.

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.