Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 20,520 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 411,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,520 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $47,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE ATO opened at $117.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $101.00 and a one year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.33.

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.