Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank cut its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,066 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,356,000 after buying an additional 452,247 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 47.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,191,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,253,000 after buying an additional 382,167 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 168.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,196,000 after buying an additional 320,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8,170.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 237,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,530,000 after acquiring an additional 234,657 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $120.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.40. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $101.00 and a one year high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

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.