Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Position Lessened by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,134 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Atmos Energy worth $11,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,386,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 17.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 917 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 9.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,204 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

ATO traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.49. 660,083 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,958. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.46 and a fifty-two week high of $152.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $141.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.32.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 49.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,003.78. This represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

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.