New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 10,317 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,967 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,317 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.22% of Atmos Energy worth $54,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $233,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,319,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $233,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $154.26 on Monday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $119.90 and a 12 month high of $167.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATO. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.95.

Atmos Energy 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.

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