Hancock Whitney Corp Has $1.91 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 603,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,920,000 after purchasing an additional 26,509 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,267,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 377,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,732,000 after acquiring an additional 42,182 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,772,000 after acquiring an additional 4,236 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 72,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,452,000 after acquiring an additional 14,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $136.56 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $138.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.61 and a 200-day moving average of $121.05. The company has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

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.