Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $116.35 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,003,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 179,094 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.67% of Atmos Energy worth $116,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,356,000 after purchasing an additional 452,247 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,997,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,616,000 after buying an additional 24,962 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,482,000 after buying an additional 58,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 50,209 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,018. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $116.15. The company had a trading volume of 818,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,114,067. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $116.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.36. The stock has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.17.

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.