Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stock Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,130,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 614,635 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.08% of Atmos Energy worth $1,828,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $152.40 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $110.97 and a 12 month high of $154.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.30. The firm has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.