Sigma Planning Corp Reduces Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 821 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ATO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $116.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The company has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

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.