Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Has $1.27 Million Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,077,000 after buying an additional 5,884 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $150.98 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $110.97 and a 1 year high of $154.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.06. The stock has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.57%.

Atmos Energy Profile

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.