Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 3,176 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Atmos Energy worth $12,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,906,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,640 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $112,002,000. Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $76,360,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,498,153,000 after purchasing an additional 362,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2,212.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 291,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,446,000 after purchasing an additional 278,961 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO traded down $2.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.72. 1,937,687 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 823,326. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $154.55. The company has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy's dividend 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.