Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Acquired by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,314,641,000 after acquiring an additional 127,199 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $187,243,000 after acquiring an additional 83,661 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 19,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.6% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,521,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,506,000 after purchasing an additional 66,345 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, August 9th. 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $137.78 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $138.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $131.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.78.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued 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 2.34%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

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.