Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation by 11.1%, owning approximately 305,882 shares worth $47.28 million at the end of the 1st quarter.
• Atmos Energy's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.16, missing estimates of $1.17, along with $838.77 million in revenue, compared to the expected $848.97 million.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 to be paid on September 8, representing an annualized yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of 47.80%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,537 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Atmos Energy worth $47,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 541.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,525,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $212,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287,325 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in 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 worth $238,628,000 after buying an additional 1,017,575 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,213,925,000 after purchasing an additional 424,235 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,333,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $47,817,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price objective on Atmos Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $163.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of ATO traded down $2.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $165.56. 638,047 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 958,277. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50-day moving average price is $157.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.62. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $128.12 and a 1 year high of $168.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.The firm had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $848.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation 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, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.80%.

About Atmos Energy

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.