GWN Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after buying an additional 11,029 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 91,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,791,000 after buying an additional 3,176 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 9,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after buying an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 25,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after buying an additional 1,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ATO opened at $151.54 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $154.55. The company has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

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.