Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Purchased by Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,498,153,000 after buying an additional 362,594 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 885,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,890,000 after purchasing an additional 34,555 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $88,311,000 after acquiring an additional 13,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 560,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,788,000 after acquiring an additional 73,007 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased 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 reduced 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Edward Geiser acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,602 shares in the company, valued at $377,003.78. This trade represents a 2,450.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $141.59 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $110.46 and a twelve month high of $152.65. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $142.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.41. The firm has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th were given a $0.87 dividend. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. 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.