Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Atmos Energy worth $20,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,141 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,957,000 after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,876,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 41,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $134.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.89. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $136.33.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.71.

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.