SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 206.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,148 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.4% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $166.69 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.86. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $136.64 and a 12-month high of $180.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $737.48 million for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 25.49%. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.22.

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.