Tributary Capital Management LLC Sells 1,260 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Tributary Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 35.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,260 shares during the quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after acquiring an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,008,000 after acquiring an additional 242,722 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after acquiring an additional 446,292 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $116.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.59. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $101.00 and a one year high of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. 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.