Truist Financial Corp Buys 2,196 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 9.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $119.32 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.25. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.