Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Hits New 12-Month High at $133.62

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $133.62 and last traded at $133.51, with a volume of 791708 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $130.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.78. The company has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $137,757,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,941,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,008,000 after buying an additional 242,722 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.