Little House Capital LLC Buys 274 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Little House Capital LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $1,906,618,000 after buying an additional 1,341,640 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 362,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 885,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,890,000 after purchasing an additional 34,555 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 636,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,311,000 after purchasing an additional 13,714 shares during the period. Finally, 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 worth $77,788,000 after purchasing an additional 73,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

ATO stock opened at $146.67 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $152.65. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.09. 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 (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 49.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Company 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.