1,696 Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Acquired by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,314,641,000 after acquiring an additional 127,199 shares during the period. 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 valued at $187,243,000 after purchasing an additional 83,661 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,550,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $180,834,000 after purchasing an additional 19,981 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.6% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,558,000 after buying an additional 9,253 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $143.96 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $105.44 and a 52-week high of $144.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.88.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. 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.