Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Acquired by Norinchukin Bank The

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,815,000 after buying an additional 547,260 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,188,000 after acquiring an additional 527,261 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,789,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $987,630,000 after purchasing an additional 303,965 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,542,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,023,000 after purchasing an additional 485,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,989,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,347 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $126.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $1,468,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 212,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,952,711.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

ATO stock opened at $115.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.40 and a 200-day moving average of $115.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.86. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $97.71 and a one year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.03). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 19.02% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $662.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 18th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.68%.

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.