Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Purchases 4,636 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.4% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 11,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $166.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.86. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $136.64 and a 12-month high of $180.65. The company has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.