Venture Visionary Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 90.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,213,925,000 after buying an additional 424,235 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at $65,333,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2,713.2% in the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 305,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,266,000 after buying an additional 294,900 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 21,802.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 282,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,608,000 after buying an additional 280,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 24.3% in 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 buying an additional 257,341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Argus set a $172.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 target price (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.50.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $169.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.75. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $136.05 and a 52-week high of $171.20. The firm has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

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.