Korea Investment CORP Purchases 49,881 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,881 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $15,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,906,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,640 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,498,153,000 after buying an additional 362,594 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,516,000 after buying an additional 7,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,529,000 after buying an additional 29,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $152.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $154.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 49.57%.

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.