Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Acquired by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,011,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,472 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy accounts for approximately 1.6% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.64% of Atmos Energy worth $155,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ATO. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 191.2% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 141.2% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ATO shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays set a $175.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Argus set a $172.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $171.76 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $136.05 and a 1 year high of $179.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $169.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.