Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Position

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,151 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.09% of Atmos Energy worth $24,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATO. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 44.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 1,567 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 39.2% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 12,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 3,606 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 26.3% during the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 14,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,256,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $198.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $201.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Atmos Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

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

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $837.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.63%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 9.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 23rd will be paid a $1.09 dividend. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 51.23%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.