Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Bought by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,082 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Atmos Energy worth $17,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 16.7% in the second quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 7,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.4% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 552,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,097,000 after buying an additional 134,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 267.0% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Argus set a $172.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $171.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $136.05 and a one year high of $180.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 9.07%. As a group, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.