Godsey & Gibb Inc. Trims Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Godsey & Gibb Inc. lessened its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3,044.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 37,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,837,000 after buying an additional 36,562 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO opened at $173.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.75 and a 200-day moving average of $158.28. The company has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $136.05 and a 1-year high of $173.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ATO. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.50.

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.