Assetmark Inc. Purchases 534 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) by 121.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $571,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,395,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,194,000. Institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Richard M. Thomas sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.37, for a total transaction of $121,407.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,891 shares in the company, valued at $319,079.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $123.00 to $132.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $113.00 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $122.96. The company has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $722.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $659.68 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 18.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 28th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 25th. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 52.30%.

Atmos Energy Profile

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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.