Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Stake Boosted by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 30.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 35,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,115,000 after acquiring an additional 8,337 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 374,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,668,000 after purchasing an additional 41,722 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 534.4% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 7,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 6,210 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 44,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,227,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 4.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $138.15 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $138.78. The company has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.63. 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 (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.