Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 86,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,106,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.05% of Atmos Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 211.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,136,463,000 after purchasing an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $432,749,000 after purchasing an additional 223,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,732,000 after purchasing an additional 58,391 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ATO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded Atmos Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.35.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE ATO traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $154.69. 214,440 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 929,412. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $155.54 and its 200-day moving average is $148.44. Atmos Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $111.48 and a 12-month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total value of $2,264,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 172,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

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.