Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $1.16 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 247,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,633,000 after acquiring an additional 61,708 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 138,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,012,000 after purchasing an additional 59,979 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 29.6% during the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 19,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 46,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ATO. Barclays upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. 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 target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ATO traded up $0.27 on Friday, reaching $119.32. The company had a trading volume of 582,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,256. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $125.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given 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 2.70%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.