State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,792 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 12,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE ATO opened at $138.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.45. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $138.56.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

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.