California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 3,185 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 251,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,185 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $25,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,030,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,836,444,000 after purchasing an additional 422,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,188,000 after purchasing an additional 527,261 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,415,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $495,219,000 after purchasing an additional 105,241 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,399,000 after purchasing an additional 533,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,965,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,359,000 after purchasing an additional 81,832 shares in the last quarter. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.14, for a total transaction of $1,464,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 228,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,807,020.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATO. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $123.00 to $132.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.88.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $114.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.69 and its 200 day moving average is $112.29. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $122.96.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 17.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 46.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Atmos Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

Atmos Energy Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas services. It operates under the Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage business segments. The Distribution segment is involved in regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations. The Pipeline and Storage segment includes pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline-Texas division and natural gas transmission operations.