Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $16.01 Million Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 59,979 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Atmos Energy worth $16,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,990,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $952,356,000 after buying an additional 452,247 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,997,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,616,000 after buying an additional 24,962 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $168,482,000 after buying an additional 58,966 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,347,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $156,153,000 after buying an additional 74,654 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

ATO traded up $0.88 during trading on Monday, reaching $118.08. 588,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 831,186. The stock has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $115.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.11%.

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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