Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Sold by Sage Mountain Advisors LLC

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 659 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,604,000 after acquiring an additional 38,459 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $147.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $144.62 and a 200-day moving average of $141.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $154.55.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.57%.

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.