Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $1.65 Million Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 11.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 46.2% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at $32,941,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,532.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 218,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 205,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Atmos Energy by 3,712.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 185,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,449,000 after purchasing an additional 180,209 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $136.56 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $138.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.05. 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 $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $701.55 million during 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

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.