Paradiem LLC Invests $14.75 Million in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Paradiem LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 86,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,754,000. Atmos Energy comprises approximately 3.4% of Paradiem LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Paradiem LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Atmos Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 2,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Rede Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth about $202,000. NovaPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,205,000. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 32.7% in the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 111.6% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 7,715 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Zacks Research upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Argus set a $172.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $172.00 price target (down previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

ATO stock opened at $168.15 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $136.16 and a one year high of $180.65. The stock has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $172.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.