Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Acquires 1,130 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 9,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $150.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $154.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $146.97 and a 200-day moving average of $143.06.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.