Eastern Bank Buys New Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 44,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,189,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 248.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $141.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.65. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $105.44 and a twelve month high of $144.32.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ATO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.94.

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.