JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 30.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 422,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 186,275 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $65,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 141.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.56.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $176.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $174.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.86. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $136.05 and a 1-year high of $180.65. The company has a market cap of $28.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.The company had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

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.