Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 132 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $75,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,757,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its position in Atmos Energy by 46.2% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after acquiring an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at $32,941,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3,712.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 185,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,449,000 after acquiring an additional 180,209 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $136.97 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $136.97. The firm has a market cap of $21.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

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.