Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $346,000 in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kinloch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 29,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,121,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 53,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,421,000 after acquiring an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,298,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 2,414 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ATO shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Mizuho lowered Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $154.83. 3,090,018 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 935,161. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $155.66 and a 200-day moving average of $148.51. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $113.46 and a 52 week high of $167.45. The stock has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.