Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 191.2% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.05.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $153.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.10. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $114.65 and a twelve month high of $167.45.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.