Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 2,263 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,263 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Atmos Energy worth $23,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,538,000. Sfmg LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $147,516,000 after acquiring an additional 7,501 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted 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 purchasing an additional 17,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ATO shares. Bank of America began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus upgraded 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $144.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $157.62. The stock has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.26 and a 200-day moving average of $143.94.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its 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 return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s 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.