Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,128 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $11,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 141.2% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 379.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus set a $172.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.70.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $175.58 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $136.05 and a one year high of $177.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.16.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

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.