Cambiar Investors LLC Sells 14,461 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cambiar Investors LLC reduced its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 87,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,461 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $12,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth $69,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $125,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $142.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $141.10 and a 200-day moving average of $138.50. The company has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Atmos Energy Co. has a one year low of $110.46 and a one year high of $152.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.