Bleakley Financial Group LLC Takes $219,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth about $1,897,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,077,000 after acquiring an additional 5,884 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America assumed 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 for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

ATO stock opened at $146.30 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $110.46 and a twelve month high of $152.65.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

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.