Keystone Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,341,640 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,498,153,000 after purchasing an additional 362,594 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 15.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ATO opened at $143.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.46 and a 12-month high of $152.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 8.83%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued 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 2.43%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,003.78. This trade represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.