Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Buys 429 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 214.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Atmos Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 45,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 1,860 shares in the last quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,319,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 77,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,805,000 after purchasing an additional 6,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 36,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,089,000 after purchasing an additional 5,143 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATO. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $148.63 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $144.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $23.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $110.97 and a 52 week high of $154.55.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Atmos Energy 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.