Capital International Inc. CA Raises Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 282,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,595 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $39,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 9,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.39.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $157.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $159.20. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.93.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. 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.