Texas Yale Capital Corp. Has $5.47 Million Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ATO. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 191.2% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 379.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.5%

ATO opened at $156.98 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.70. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $125.25 and a twelve month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Atmos Energy 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.