Atmos Energy Co. (ATO) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 25th

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.87 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81.

Atmos Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 41 years. Atmos Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 48.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Atmos Energy to earn $7.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.4%.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $150.05 on Friday. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $110.46 and a 52-week high of $151.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Edward Geiser bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $144.89 per share, with a total value of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at $377,003.78. This represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.31.

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.