Summit Global Investments Buys Shares of 10,292 Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 55,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,835,000 after acquiring an additional 12,529 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 455,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,266,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 23.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 73,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 13,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

ATO stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $119.32. 608,234 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,162. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.22. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

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.