D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth $69,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $125,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $149.87 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $152.65. The stock has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $141.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.77.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio 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.