Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 98,778 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 354,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,778 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $41,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 200.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 187.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 68.0% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

ATO traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $129.21. The stock had a trading volume of 876,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,007. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $132.24.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.17.

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.