Boston Trust Walden Corp Has $52.66 Million Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 340,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,882 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $52,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the first quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 1,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 72.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $152.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.46 and a twelve month high of $167.45. The company has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.71.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.35%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho downgraded Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.05.

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.