iSAM Funds UK Ltd Grows Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,319,000. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $158.96 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $167.45. The stock has a market cap of $25.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $154.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.77.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.