7,210 Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Bought by DRW Securities LLC

DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 7,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 565.3% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after purchasing an additional 34,515 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 419,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,960,000 after purchasing an additional 14,440 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 7.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 323,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,750,000 after purchasing an additional 22,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 52.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 25,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 8,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,003.78. This represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.31.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ATO opened at $150.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.90. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $110.46 and a one year high of $151.24.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.87%.

About Atmos Energy

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.