Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 379 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $114.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.98 and its 200 day moving average is $113.50. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

About Atmos Energy

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.