Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Purchased by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,019,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,342 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy accounts for about 1.4% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $118,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.38. The company had a trading volume of 117,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,659. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $115.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $101.00 and a one year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.