Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Makes New $319,000 Investment in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,136,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $432,749,000 after purchasing an additional 223,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,732,000 after purchasing an additional 58,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 172,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:ATO opened at $157.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.43. The firm has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $167.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lowered Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.15.

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.