Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Grows Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,019,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,342 shares during the period. Atmos Energy comprises 1.4% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.68% of Atmos Energy worth $118,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ATO traded down $0.26 on Tuesday, hitting $118.38. The stock had a trading volume of 117,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,659. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.07. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

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.