PGGM Investments Purchases 19,615 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 63.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,615 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $116.93. 733,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 666,103. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.00. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The company has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.