CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Grows Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $20,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,314,641,000 after buying an additional 127,199 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,243,000 after purchasing an additional 83,661 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,008,000 after purchasing an additional 242,722 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ATO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $124.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $117.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.13. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $127.90. The company has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

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.