Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $3.13 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,636 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.5% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,431,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 357,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,018 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,597,000 after purchasing an additional 18,148 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Castellan Group increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 22,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $172.00 price target (down from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $175.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $166.69 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $171.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $136.64 and a 1 year high of $180.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.77.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

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

About Atmos Energy

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.