Raiffeisen Bank International AG Takes $721,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.4% during 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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,319,000. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.1%

ATO opened at $157.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $110.97 and a twelve month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

About Atmos Energy

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.