Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,484 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Atmos Energy worth $11,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ATO opened at $152.40 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $154.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $147.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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