Xponance Inc. Has $2.22 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Xponance Inc. lessened its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,356,000 after purchasing an additional 452,247 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,997,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,616,000 after acquiring an additional 24,962 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,482,000 after acquiring an additional 58,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,191,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,253,000 after acquiring an additional 382,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ATO opened at $118.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.80. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 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 company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.