Obermeyer Wealth Partners Increases Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Obermeyer Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,369 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,213,925,000 after acquiring an additional 424,235 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,317,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,659,000 after purchasing an additional 257,341 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,011,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,868,000 after buying an additional 86,472 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,940,000 after acquiring an additional 34,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 895,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,422,000 after acquiring an additional 91,266 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays set a $175.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.9%

ATO opened at $171.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $136.05 and a twelve month high of $179.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.61.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

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.