Cambiar Investors LLC Sells 14,461 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cambiar Investors LLC lowered its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,461 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Atmos Energy worth $12,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,341,640 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 362,594 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 34,555 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 13,714 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 73,007 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $142.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.56. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $110.46 and a 52-week high of $152.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.50. The stock has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

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.