Bank of New Hampshire Takes $58,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Bank of New Hampshire bought a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 181.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $152.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $113.46 and a fifty-two week high of $167.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.75. The company has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

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, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.35.

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.