Kim R. Cocklin Sells 15,000 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Stock

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ATO traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $118.78. The company had a trading volume of 636,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,543. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.05. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ATO. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company 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.