Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 187.6% during the fourth 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. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.67.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.73. The company had a trading volume of 268,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.99. The company has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

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.