Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 78.5% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 8,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3,044.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 37,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,837,000 after purchasing an additional 36,562 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at $284,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ATO. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.50.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.7%

ATO stock opened at $170.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $136.05 and a 52 week high of $171.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $164.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

About Atmos Energy

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.