Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 20,520 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 411,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,520 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.27% of Atmos Energy worth $47,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised 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 acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $117.20 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.51. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $125.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. 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 is currently 51.11%.

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.