Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Stock Position Increased by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,829 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $8,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,836,526,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 211.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,136,463,000 after purchasing an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $432,749,000 after purchasing an additional 223,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,732,000 after purchasing an additional 58,391 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATO. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 172,632 shares in the company, valued at $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $151.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 168,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,543. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $113.46 and a 1-year high of $167.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $155.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.70.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.