California Public Employees Retirement System Has $103.06 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 889,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $103,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after buying an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $952,356,000 after purchasing an additional 452,247 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 47.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,191,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,253,000 after purchasing an additional 382,167 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 168.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,196,000 after purchasing an additional 320,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at $28,228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ATO. Barclays raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $117.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

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.