Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 63,166 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,166 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $625,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 39,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,144,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.4% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 8,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $159.00 target price (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $175.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $136.05 and a 1 year high of $180.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.87 and a 200 day moving average of $162.77. The company has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

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.