Bridges Investment Management Inc. Invests $1.01 Million in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.4% during the first quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given 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 $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

ATO opened at $136.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $138.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.