NovaPoint Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

NovaPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings 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 worth $4,355,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,884 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America began coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edward Geiser acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $144.89 per share, with a total value of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at $377,003.78. This trade represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $145.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.46 and a 12-month high of $152.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.15.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 25.04%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 50.66%.

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.