Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,008,000 after purchasing an additional 242,722 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 46.2% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

ATO stock opened at $119.87 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

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.