Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Cuts Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $4,131,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 556,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,443,000 after buying an additional 36,977 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 91,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,882,000 after acquiring an additional 39,843 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $494,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $116.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

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.