Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 659 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,906,618,000 after buying an additional 1,341,640 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $112,002,000. Nilsine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $76,360,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,498,153,000 after purchasing an additional 362,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2,212.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 291,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,446,000 after purchasing an additional 278,961 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $147.20 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $110.97 and a 1 year high of $154.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $144.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 49.57%.

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.