Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 270 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI reduced its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 228,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,728,000 after buying an additional 14,377 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth $203,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at $297,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Atmos Energy by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 56,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,855,000 after purchasing an additional 5,126 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ATO. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $148.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $110.97 and a 1 year high of $154.55. The company has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $144.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.62.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.