Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 18.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,598 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 4,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 730,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,240,000 after purchasing an additional 196,163 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,997,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 42,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,009,000 after purchasing an additional 12,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ATO opened at $136.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $138.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.09. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued 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 (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ATO. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.