Weiss Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 36,050 Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,672,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at about $71,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,815,000 after buying an additional 547,260 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 1st 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 increased its position in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,188,000 after acquiring an additional 527,261 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,584,000. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.14, for a total value of $1,464,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 228,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,807,020.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $114.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $122.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $114.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.29.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.02). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 46.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Atmos Energy Profile

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Atmos Energy Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas services. It operates under the Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage business segments. The Distribution segment is involved in regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations. The Pipeline and Storage segment includes pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline-Texas division and natural gas transmission operations.