Barclays PLC Cuts Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Barclays PLC reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 230,954 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.21% of Atmos Energy worth $45,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,836,526,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $432,749,000 after purchasing an additional 223,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $206,538,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $147,516,000 after purchasing an additional 7,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $154.39.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

ATO traded up $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.52. 312,523 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 915,731. The stock has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average is $150.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.24. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $161.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. 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.