OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,213,925,000 after acquiring an additional 424,235 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,180,000 after purchasing an additional 63,166 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 23.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,899,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,699,000 after purchasing an additional 362,894 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 24.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,317,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,659,000 after purchasing an additional 257,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 9.3% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,011,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,868,000 after purchasing an additional 86,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:ATO opened at $175.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.77. The firm has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $136.05 and a fifty-two week high of $180.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.