Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,000. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ATO shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $157.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $154.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.48. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

About Atmos Energy

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.