New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 310 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $16,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 348,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 48,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,689,000 after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 176,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,477,000 after purchasing an additional 35,190 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $145.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.75.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $146.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.20 and its 200-day moving average is $139.17. Atmos Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $152.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.57%.

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.