Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.04 Million Position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,043,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $118.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.90. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $125.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.