Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Has $946,000 Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 980 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 248.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 158.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 1,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $138.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $107.82 and a 52-week high of $144.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $137.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.12. The firm has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.28%.

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.