Eastern Bank Buys 14,805 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Eastern Bank boosted its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 26.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,805 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $11,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Atmos Energy by 30.4% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $168.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.77. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $138.62 and a 1-year high of $180.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.01 and a 200-day moving average of $167.07.

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

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Cowen began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $172.00 price objective (down from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Argus set a $172.00 target price on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.33.

Atmos Energy Company 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.