Stephens Inc. AR Increases Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 20.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 109,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,969,000 after purchasing an additional 18,753 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $175.00 target price on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $176.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $136.05 and a 52-week high of $179.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.82. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The company had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $848.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.