Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires 98,778 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 354,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,778 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.24% of Atmos Energy worth $41,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 419,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,960,000 after buying an additional 14,440 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,274 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 323,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,750,000 after acquiring an additional 22,531 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 565.3% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after acquiring an additional 34,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.5% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Atmos Energy stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.21. The stock had a trading volume of 876,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,007. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $132.24. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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. boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.17.

Atmos Energy Company 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.