Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Position Boosted by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after buying an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,627,000 after buying an additional 912,138 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 527,261 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,090,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,460,000 after acquiring an additional 100,681 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $112.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.45.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.