Raymond James & Associates Sells 3,830 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 451,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,830 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.30% of Atmos Energy worth $52,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $118.26 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.05.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.40.

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.