Hennessy Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

by · The Markets Daily

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO – Free Report) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $25,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.6% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $167.62 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $136.16 and a 1-year high of $180.65. The stock has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 25.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ATO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Argus set a $172.00 target price on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $172.00 target price (down from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.22.

View Our Latest Report on ATO

Atmos Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.

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