Ledyard National Bank Acquires Shares of 1,808 Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Ledyard National Bank acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $810,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 467.0% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $141.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $135.46 and a 200-day moving average of $124.65. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $105.44 and a 12-month high of $144.32.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.