Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Stock Position Lowered by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. lessened its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATO. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,138 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,815,000 after buying an additional 547,260 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,399,000 after buying an additional 533,372 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,287,188,000 after buying an additional 527,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,356,000 after buying an additional 452,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $116.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $114.81 and its 200-day moving average is $113.20. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.40.

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.