Legal & General Group Plc Sells 180,320 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,618,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 180,320 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $225,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $206,538,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $112,002,000. Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $76,360,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $432,749,000 after buying an additional 223,809 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $148.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.69. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $157.62.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Company 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.