Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 597 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 19.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 597 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.56.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $139.36 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $105.44 and a fifty-two week high of $140.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $133.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.39.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.31%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

About Atmos Energy

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.