CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Grows Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,091 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.12% of Atmos Energy worth $26,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $10,319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ATO. Wolfe Research began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $154.39.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $159.72. 1,790,296 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 921,549. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $161.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $150.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.24.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.