Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 23,378 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,378 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.34% of Atmos Energy worth $74,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE ATO opened at $158.96 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.77. The stock has a market cap of $25.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $167.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.15.

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.