Lbp Am Sa Has $1.28 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Lbp Am Sa raised its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,906,618,000 after buying an additional 1,341,640 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,529,000 after acquiring an additional 29,745 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 818,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,266,000 after acquiring an additional 17,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,002,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ATO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $150.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $154.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.92. The company has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. Analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.57%.

Atmos Energy 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.