Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Purchased by Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at about $396,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 58.5% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 7,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 208,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the sale, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised 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 research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $166.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $136.16 and a 52-week high of $180.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.22.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 25.49%. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Atmos Energy Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.