Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Has $86.02 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 617,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,602 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy comprises approximately 2.3% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $86,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $153.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.82. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $154.04.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.