First National Advisers LLC Reduces Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

First National Advisers LLC reduced its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,935 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $170.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.69 and a 200 day moving average of $167.22. 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 company has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.77. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $138.77 and a 52 week high of $180.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ATO. Zacks Research raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.22.

Atmos Energy 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.