Schnieders Capital Management LLC Sells 350 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 21.7% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 36.6% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 22.6% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 180,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,119,000 after buying an additional 13,610 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $118.66. 689,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 827,181. The company has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

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.