Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,611 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,136,463,000 after purchasing an additional 5,543,451 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $432,749,000 after buying an additional 223,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,732,000 after buying an additional 58,391 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $159.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.69. The firm has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $110.97 and a one year high of $167.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho lowered shares of Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.15.

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.