California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 473,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,739 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $87,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 363,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,490 shares during the period. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $557,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 62.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 174,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,297,000 after purchasing an additional 67,301 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,047,000. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ATO opened at $177.69 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $154.55 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.99.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

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.