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

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 150,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,983 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $23,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the first quarter worth $273,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 26.0% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.50.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.5%

ATO stock opened at $175.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $136.05 and a 1-year high of $176.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $165.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.51. The firm has a market cap of $28.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

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.