Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 7.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 414 shares during the quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Traynor Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth about $208,000. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 53.8% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 82,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,362,000 after buying an additional 28,771 shares in the last quarter. Amarillo National Bank grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.9% during the third quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 33,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,691,000 after buying an additional 2,468 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 356,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,481,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 17.3% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,324,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $140.21. 133,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 869,077. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.40. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $105.51 and a 1-year high of $144.32. The firm has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.