TIAA Trust National Association Boosts Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 19.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank raised its position in Atmos Energy by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 34,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $131.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.20. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $133.46. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.17.

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.