Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Acquires Shares of 285,789 Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 285,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,798,000. Atmos Energy accounts for approximately 0.9% of Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,180,000 after acquiring an additional 63,166 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,082,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,019,000 after purchasing an additional 91,254 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,949,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $332,877,000 after purchasing an additional 50,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $282,487,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $170.37 on Monday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $138.77 and a 1 year high of $180.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.42.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $172.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.22.

Atmos Energy Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.