CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Has $4 Million Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 11.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 281.3% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,208,000 after buying an additional 415,054 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 247,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,633,000 after buying an additional 61,708 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after buying an additional 7,141 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after buying an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 41,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $116.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The company has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $116.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.49.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.28%.

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.