FFT Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

FFT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 21.7% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 29.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 55,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,835,000 after acquiring an additional 12,529 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.5% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $275,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on 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, UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO traded up $0.58 on Thursday, hitting $119.24. The company had a trading volume of 56,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,992. The company has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.81 and a 200 day moving average of $114.14. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.