Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 319.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,337 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 256 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth $32,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $118.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.09. The company has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.11%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.