Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Cuts Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group trimmed its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after acquiring an additional 50,209 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,957,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,876,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 565.3% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,738,000 after buying an additional 34,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,941,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.88.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $138.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.99. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $139.63. The company has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 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.