Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Holdings Raised by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,136,463,000 after buying an additional 5,543,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $206,538,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 541.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,525,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287,325 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 146.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,713,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $112,002,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho lowered Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.35.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:ATO opened at $152.92 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $113.46 and a 1-year high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.