Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Our stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “ATO.” The high and low sale prices and dividends paid per share of our common stock for fiscal 2016 and 2015 are listed below. The high and low prices listed are the closing NYSE quotes, as reported on the NYSE composite tape, for shares of our common stock:



	Fiscal 2016						Fiscal 2015
	High		Low		Dividends Paid		High		Low		Dividends Paid
Quarter ended:
December 31	$	64.25	$	57.82	$	0.42	$	58.08	$	47.35	$	0.39
March 31	74.33		61.74		0.42		58.81		52.02		0.39
June 30	81.32		70.60		0.42		56.41		51.28		0.39
September 30	81.16		71.88		0.42		58.18		51.48		0.39
					$	1.68					$	1.56

Dividends are payable at the discretion of our Board of Directors out of legally available funds. The Board of Directors typically declares dividends in the same fiscal quarter in which they are paid. The number of record holders of our common stock on October 31, 2016 was 14,108. Future payments of dividends, and the amounts of these dividends, will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors. We sold no securities during fiscal 2016 that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Performance Graph

The performance graph and table below compares the yearly percentage change in our total return to shareholders for the last five fiscal years with the total return of the S&P 500 Stock Index and the cumulative total return of a customized peer company group, the Comparison Company Index. The Comparison Company Index is comprised of natural gas distribution companies with similar revenues, market capitalizations and asset bases to that of the Company. The graph and table below assume that $100.00 was invested on September 30, 2011 in our common stock, the S&P 500 Index and in the common stock of the companies in the Comparison Company Index, as well as a reinvestment of dividends paid on such investments throughout the period.

Comparison of Five-Year Cumulative Total Return

among Atmos Energy Corporation, S&P 500 Index

and Comparison Company Index



	Cumulative Total Return
	9/30/2011	9/30/2012	9/30/2013	9/30/2014	9/30/2015	9/30/2016
Atmos Energy Corporation	100.00	114.96	141.77	163.78	205.60	269.55
S&P 500 Index	100.00	130.20	155.39	186.05	184.91	213.44
Peer Group	100.00	117.20	137.59	161.70	179.33	232.91

The Comparison Company Index reflects the cumulative total return of companies in our peer group, which is comprised of a hybrid group of utility companies, primarily natural gas distribution companies, recommended by our independent executive compensation consulting firm and approved by the Board of Directors. The companies in our peer group are AGL Resources Inc.(1), CenterPoint Energy, Inc., CMS Energy Corporation, NiSource Inc., ONE Gas, Inc., Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc., Questar Corporation(1), TECO Energy, Inc.(1), Spire, Inc. (formerly The Laclede Group, Inc.), Vectren Corporation and WGL Holdings, Inc.


(1)	AGL Resources Inc., Questar Corporation and TECO Energy, Inc. were acquired prior to September 30, 2016. As a result, the cumulative total return of these companies is not included in the Comparison Company Index represented in the graph above.

The following table sets forth the number of securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans at September 30, 2016.



	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, restricted stock units, warrants and rights		Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights		Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a))
	(a)		(b)		(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:
1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan	1,338,162	(1)	$	—	2,359,106
Total equity compensation plans approved by security holders	1,338,162		—		2,359,106
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders	—		—		—
Total	1,338,162		$	—	2,359,106


(1)	Comprised of a total of 614,588 time-lapse restricted stock units, 326,249 director share units and 397,325 performance-based restricted stock units at the target level of performance granted under our 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan.

On September 28, 2011, the Board of Directors approved a program authorizing the repurchase of up to five million shares of common stock over a five-year period. The program expired on September 30, 2016 and will not be renewed. We did not repurchase any shares during fiscal 2016 under the program.

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