Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) by 16.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $375,224,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,905,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,456,896,000 after buying an additional 987,165 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,884,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,971,000 after buying an additional 921,239 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,073,378,000 after buying an additional 455,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 346,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,261,000 after buying an additional 151,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.71% of the company’s stock.
Atmos Energy Stock Performance
NYSE:ATO opened at $114.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.62 and a 200 day moving average of $114.18. The company has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $85.80 and a 1-year high of $122.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94.
Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 18.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Atmos Energy Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 22nd will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 19th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 49.28%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ATO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 12th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Atmos Energy to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.
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.
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