MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Increases Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 43.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 383,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 116,716 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy comprises 1.7% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.25% of Atmos Energy worth $44,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ATO. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 31.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,992,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,093,298,000 after acquiring an additional 4,343,701 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,815,000 after acquiring an additional 547,260 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,399,000 after acquiring an additional 533,372 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,287,188,000 after acquiring an additional 527,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,356,000 after acquiring an additional 452,247 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ATO shares. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.40.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ATO traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $118.87. 1,265,443 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 990,809. The firm has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.13.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

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.