Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Holdings Lifted by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during 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 last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 7,141 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,957,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at $1,876,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 565.3% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after purchasing an additional 34,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $138.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $138.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.45. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five 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 $134.71.

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.