Czech National Bank Buys 532 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,482,000 after purchasing an additional 58,966 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,008,000 after purchasing an additional 242,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.17.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $116.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $116.52 and a 200 day moving average of $115.48. The stock has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.