Pathstone Holdings LLC Raises Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,550,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $180,834,000 after purchasing an additional 19,981 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,521,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,506,000 after buying an additional 66,345 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,059,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,558,000 after buying an additional 9,253 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 36.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 730,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,240,000 after buying an additional 196,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 18.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 710,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $82,918,000 after acquiring an additional 113,109 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Edward Geiser purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $144.89 per share, for a total transaction of $362,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,003.78. The trade was a 2,450.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $150.05 on Monday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $110.46 and a twelve month high of $151.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 50.66%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.