Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Sets New 12-Month High at $137.72

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $137.72 and last traded at $137.27, with a volume of 11176 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $136.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.63. The stock has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.28%.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 7,141 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,957,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth $1,876,000. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 565.3% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,738,000 after purchasing an additional 34,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.