Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 83,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,732 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $9,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,520,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.4% in the first quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. boosted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.17.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $131.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $133.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The business 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.