M&G PLC Buys 2,951 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

M&G PLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,951 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC owned 0.12% of Atmos Energy worth $32,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ATO. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 182.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 35,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,544,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 9.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 207,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,387,000 after acquiring an additional 17,329 shares in the last quarter. Burton Enright Welch bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $384,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $201.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Atmos Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $173.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.26. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $154.72 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The stock has a market cap of $29.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $837.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 9.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 23rd will be paid a $1.09 dividend. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.00%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile