USS Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation by 44.7% during the 1st quarter, now owning 21,041 shares valued at approximately $3.25 million.
• Atmos Energy reported a missed earnings estimate for the quarter with $1.16 EPS, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 44.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% during 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 buying an additional 424,235 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at about $65,333,000. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,817,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2,713.2% during the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 305,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,266,000 after buying an additional 294,900 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 21,802.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 282,109 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,608,000 after buying an additional 280,821 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $159.00 price objective (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $166.45. The stock had a trading volume of 414,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,864. The company has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $160.80 and a 200 day moving average of $156.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.37. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $133.90 and a 1 year high of $168.86.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is 47.80%.

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.