Corient Private Wealth LLC Purchases 11,029 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 33.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,029 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $6,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 362,594 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,529,000 after buying an additional 29,745 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 818,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,266,000 after buying an additional 17,004 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,002,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $148.72 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.55. The firm has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.57%.

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.