Atmos Energy Co. (ATO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.87 on December 9th

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.87 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81.

Atmos Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 40 years. Atmos Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 45.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Atmos Energy to earn $7.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.22 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.0%.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $141.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $107.82 and a 12 month high of $144.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $138.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.94.

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.