National Pension Service Acquires 9,477 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation by 4.8%, acquiring an additional 9,477 shares for a total of 205,286 shares valued at approximately $31.73 million.
• Atmos Energy has reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.16, slightly missing the analysts' consensus estimate of $1.17, with revenues of $838.77 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 2.1%, with the payment scheduled for September 8th.

National Pension Service grew its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,477 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.13% of Atmos Energy worth $31,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,136,463,000 after buying an additional 5,543,451 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,287,325 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew 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 worth $238,628,000 after buying an additional 1,017,575 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,213,925,000 after buying an additional 424,235 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,333,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho cut shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO traded up $0.0950 on Wednesday, hitting $165.9050. 337,815 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,308. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business's fifty day moving average is $156.55 and its 200 day moving average is $153.89. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $128.12 and a 52 week high of $167.85. The company has a market capitalization of $26.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.69.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The company had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.