Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $82.92 Million Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 18.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 710,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 113,109 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.47% of Atmos Energy worth $82,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,314,641,000 after buying an additional 127,199 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after buying an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,243,000 after buying an additional 83,661 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,550,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $180,834,000 after buying an additional 19,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.6% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,521,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,506,000 after buying an additional 66,345 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.71.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $136.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $138.78.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for 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 earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.