AIA Group Ltd Decreases Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,594 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $117.20 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.51. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results 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). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy 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.