DE Burlo Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

DE Burlo Group Inc. reduced its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. DE Burlo Group Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,520,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATO. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.71.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $136.58 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $138.78. The company has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $130.47 and a 200 day moving average of $121.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s 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.