SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Atmos Energy by 248.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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 $143.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.19. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $105.44 and a twelve month high of $144.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The company had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

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.