Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Takes $3.37 Million Position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 21,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,000. Atmos Energy makes up approximately 2.0% of Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 1,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in Atmos Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 72.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $153.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.33. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $113.46 and a 52-week high of $167.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.99. The stock has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.05.

About Atmos Energy

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.