Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Takes Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,356,000 after acquiring an additional 452,247 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,191,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,253,000 after acquiring an additional 382,167 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,196,000 after acquiring an additional 320,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,228,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO traded up $0.99 on Wednesday, hitting $118.66. 688,637 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 827,680. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.86. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ATO shares. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.