Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by AMF Tjanstepension AB

AMF Tjanstepension AB cut its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,208 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $10,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 137,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,440,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,313 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 8.8% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $4,510,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.11.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $164.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $169.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.85. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $138.77 and a 52 week high of $180.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.77. 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 (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. The company 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.