Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.90 Million Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 13,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 9,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $147.43 on Friday. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $152.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.53.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.