Allianz SE Buys New Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,674,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,498,153,000 after purchasing an additional 362,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $206,538,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,516,000 after buying an additional 7,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

ATO stock opened at $152.40 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $110.97 and a twelve month high of $154.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.24.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

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.