Cooke & Bieler LP Has $156.15 Million Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,347,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 74,654 shares during the period. Atmos Energy accounts for 1.4% of Cooke & Bieler LP's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.89% of Atmos Energy worth $156,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.33.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $117.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,108,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 665,965. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.10 and a 200 day moving average of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 51.11%.

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.