Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 155,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,151 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $24,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 627.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Downshift Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2,514.3% during the 3rd quarter. Downshift Financial LLC now owns 183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:ATO opened at $175.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $29.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.56. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $154.72 and a one year high of $192.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.37.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.50%. The firm had revenue of $837.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $873.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 9.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 23rd will be issued a $1.09 dividend. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ATO. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $173.00 to $167.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $198.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation is a regulated natural gas utility and pipeline operator headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company distributes natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers and operates natural gas transmission and storage assets. Its regulated distribution business serves customers in eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Through its pipeline and storage operations, Atmos Energy moves and stores natural gas, primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.