Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.59% of Atmos Energy worth $103,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 36.6% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 22.6% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 180,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,119,000 after purchasing an additional 13,610 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $117.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.86. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.