Denali Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,604,000 after acquiring an additional 38,459 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $149.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $152.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.25.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

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.