15,909 Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Purchased by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,216,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 560,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $77,788,000 after acquiring an additional 73,007 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $442,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,887,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at $2,299,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 33,932 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,707,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE ATO traded down $0.47 on Thursday, hitting $159.12. The stock had a trading volume of 635,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,877. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.97 and a 52-week high of $161.49. The business's fifty day moving average price is $151.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.19%. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 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.