Norden Group LLC Invests $2.71 Million in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 22,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value 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 $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ATO. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho boosted 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ATO opened at $115.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.59.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

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.