American Century Companies Inc. Has $242.50 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,741,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 363,444 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.10% of Atmos Energy worth $242,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 58,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,884 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $148.72 on Friday. 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.63. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

About Atmos Energy

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.