Procyon Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Procyon Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 453,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,844,000 after purchasing an additional 31,714 shares during the period. RFG Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $259,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 9,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $142.00 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $105.44 and a 52 week high of $142.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.74. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.56.

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.