Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Syntax Advisors LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped 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 upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $118.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.90. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Atmos Energy Company 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.