Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 20.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 13,309.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 103,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,912,000 after buying an additional 102,484 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,027,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATO. Zacks Research raised Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Cowen assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Barclays set a $175.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.56.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $176.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $136.05 and a twelve month high of $180.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.86.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

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.