Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Price Target Raised to $147.00

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $147.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ATO. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ATO opened at $148.72 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.63. The stock has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $154.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,136,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $206,538,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,906,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,640 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 541.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,525,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 146.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,713,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,575 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.