ORG Partners LLC Lowers Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

ORG Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,131 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.56.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ATO opened at $142.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $105.44 and a fifty-two week high of $142.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $133.97 and a 200 day moving average of $123.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

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.