Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $202,000 Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 83.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,147 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,542.9% during 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 boosted its holdings in 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 period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $155.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $110.97 and a 12-month high of $155.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.64.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its 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%. Research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

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.