International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 128,243 Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 128,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,863,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Atmos Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 452,247 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,191,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,253,000 after buying an additional 382,167 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,196,000 after acquiring an additional 320,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 8,170.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 237,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,530,000 after acquiring an additional 234,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $119.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The stock has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Company 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.