State of Michigan Retirement System Buys 700 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.4% during the first quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ATO. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $116.54 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.59. The firm has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.23. The company 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%. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.