Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 216 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Taylor Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $517,000. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $528,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,595,000 after buying an additional 50,209 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $116.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.17.

About Atmos Energy

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.