Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Has $508,000 Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,003.78. The trade was a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $143.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.15. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.46 and a 1-year high of $152.65.

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 25.04% and a return on equity of 8.83%. On average, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.66%.

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.