MGB Wealth Management LLC Purchases 194 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

MGB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. MGB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,906,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,640 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $76,360,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,498,153,000 after buying an additional 362,594 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2,212.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 291,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,446,000 after buying an additional 278,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,221,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $146.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.46 and a 1-year high of $152.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.81.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.