Maridea Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 3,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 worth $1,906,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,640 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $206,538,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,501 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $152.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.24. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $154.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.