Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 21st, 2023

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,815,000 after acquiring an additional 547,260 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,399,000 after acquiring an additional 533,372 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,287,188,000 after acquiring an additional 527,261 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 635.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 429,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,282,000 after acquiring an additional 370,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pendal Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 32.2% in the third quarter. Pendal Group Ltd now owns 1,128,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,937,000 after acquiring an additional 275,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.14, for a total value of $1,464,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 228,846 shares in the company, valued at $26,807,020.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $115.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.62. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $122.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.22.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 17.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 46.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.25.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Atmos Energy Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas services. It operates under the Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage business segments. The Distribution segment is involved in regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations. The Pipeline and Storage segment includes pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline-Texas division and natural gas transmission operations.