Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 59,979 Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 138,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,979 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $16,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,049,467,000 after buying an additional 538,578 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 5.3% in 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,482,000 after purchasing an additional 58,966 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,347,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,153,000 after purchasing an additional 74,654 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ATO traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $118.08. 588,133 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 831,186. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.72.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ATO shares. UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.