Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 552 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 11.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,077,000 after buying an additional 5,884 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ATO opened at $150.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $110.97 and a 1 year high of $154.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.06.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ATO. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

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.