Blue Trust Inc. Grows Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 868.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,253 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,213,925,000 after acquiring an additional 424,235 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 17.2% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,454,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,773,000 after purchasing an additional 213,075 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,317,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,659,000 after purchasing an additional 257,341 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,940,000 after purchasing an additional 34,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 895,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,422,000 after purchasing an additional 91,266 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $159.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.70.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE ATO opened at $176.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $136.05 and a 52 week high of $177.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.88.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

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.