Cigna Investments Inc. New Buys New Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cigna Investments Inc. New bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ATO. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $32,941,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,532.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 218,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after buying an additional 205,300 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 730,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,240,000 after buying an additional 196,163 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 444,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,544,000 after purchasing an additional 139,429 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $16,316,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $138.40 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.10 and a 200-day moving average of $125.77. The company has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $107.82 and a 52 week high of $144.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.28%.

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.