Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 141.2% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATO. Mizuho boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $173.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $136.05 and a 12-month high of $179.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.42.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

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.