Creative Planning Acquires 663 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 467.0% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 75.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 248.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATO. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.94.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $142.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $136.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.91. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $105.44 and a 52 week high of $144.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

About Atmos Energy

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.