New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires 162 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 294.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 46,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,409,000 after acquiring an additional 34,349 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $175,000. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $152.30 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.56. 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 twelve month low of $110.97 and a twelve month high of $152.65. The company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.72.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 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, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.57%.

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.