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 2017 and 2016 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:

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, 2017 was 13,341. 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 2017 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 two different customized peer company groups, the New Comparison Company Index and the Old Comparison Company Index. The New 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, 2012 in our common stock, the S&P 500 Index and in the common stock of the companies in the New and Old Comparison Company Indices, 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

The New 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 the index are Alliant Energy Corporation, CenterPoint Energy, Inc., CMS Energy Corporation, DTE Energy Company, National Fuel Gas Company, NextEra Energy, Inc., NiSource Inc., ONE Gas, Inc., Spire, Inc. (formerly The Laclede Group, Inc.), Vectren Corporation, WEC Energy Group, Inc., WGL Holdings, Inc., and Xcel Energy, Inc. The Old Comparison Company Index includes AGL Resources Inc.(1), CenterPoint Energy, Inc., CMS Energy Corporation, NiSource Inc., ONE Gas, Inc., Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc.(1), Questar Corporation(1), TECO Energy, Inc.(1), Spire, Inc. (formerly The Laclede Group, Inc.), Vectren Corporation and WGL Holdings, Inc.

The following table sets forth the number of securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans at September 30, 2017.