Lummis Asset Management LP Purchases 376 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 50.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after buying an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after acquiring an additional 446,292 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at about $32,941,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 1,532.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 218,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 205,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 36.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 730,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,240,000 after purchasing an additional 196,163 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

ATO opened at $136.77 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $138.78. 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 has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $130.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

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.