Acadian Asset Management LLC Takes $922,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 127,199 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $187,243,000 after purchasing an additional 83,661 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.6% during the 2nd 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 increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $138.27 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $138.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Profile

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.