Vise Technologies Inc. Purchases New Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 560,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,788,000 after purchasing an additional 73,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 3,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.35.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.3%

ATO opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $110.97 and a 52 week high of $167.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.29. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

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.