Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,287 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $18,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $150.53 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.31. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $154.55. The firm has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.