Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Bought by OLD National Bancorp IN

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,356,000 after purchasing an additional 452,247 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,997,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,616,000 after purchasing an additional 24,962 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,482,000 after purchasing an additional 58,966 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,347,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,153,000 after purchasing an additional 74,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $118.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.90.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.