Bridges Investment Management Inc. Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ATO shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $136.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $138.78.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

About Atmos Energy

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.