Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.11% of Atmos Energy worth $19,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $127,941,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $104,567,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,138 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,815,000 after purchasing an additional 547,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.0% in the first 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. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $1,468,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 212,472 shares in the company, valued at $24,952,711.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $126.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued 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 $125.00.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.62. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.84.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $662.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.54 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 19.02% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 50.68%.

About Atmos Energy

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.