Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 3,180 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 24.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $137,757,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,208,000 after buying an additional 415,054 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,941,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.17.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $130.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.83. The firm has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $132.24.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.