BLB&B Advisors LLC Buys 621 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,189,000. Ledyard National Bank bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at about $251,000. Little House Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 68.4% in the third quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 387,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,745,000 after acquiring an additional 13,112 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 23,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE ATO opened at $143.11 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $105.44 and a 52 week high of $144.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.78.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.