Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $24.12 Million Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 173,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,401 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $24,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,906,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,640 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,498,153,000 after purchasing an additional 362,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 885,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,890,000 after buying an additional 34,555 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 636,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,311,000 after buying an additional 13,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 560,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,788,000 after buying an additional 73,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward Geiser acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,003.78. This represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded 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. 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of ATO opened at $139.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $21.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $110.46 and a 52 week high of $152.65.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.66%.

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.