Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 182 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after buying an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew 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 worth $126,253,000 after buying an additional 382,167 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 168.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth $28,228,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock traded down $1.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.93. 733,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 666,103. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $115.55 and its 200-day moving average is $113.98. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy 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 transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ATO. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy 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.