Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Stock Position Lifted by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,008,000 after purchasing an additional 242,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $120.91. 816,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,414. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.