Greenleaf Trust Buys 175 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 16,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 8,367 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.0% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 421,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,085,000 after acquiring an additional 38,151 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $140.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $105.44 and a fifty-two week high of $144.32. The company has a market cap of $21.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $136.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.13.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.28%.

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.