Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 191.2% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Atmos Energy by 141.2% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the second 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 grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 379.7% during the first 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, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus set a $172.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $175.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $136.05 and a 12-month high of $179.70. The firm has a market cap of $28.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.