Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 329 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,314,641,000 after buying an additional 127,199 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 5.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.6% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,521,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,506,000 after purchasing an additional 66,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $136.97 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $136.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.