Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Receives $183.90 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $186.4167.

ATO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.3%

ATO stock opened at $177.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $154.23 and a 12 month high of $192.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $174.02 and its 200 day moving average is $177.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,525,687,000 after purchasing an additional 276,485 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after buying an additional 927,986 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after buying an additional 155,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $703,824,000 after buying an additional 78,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,719,000 after buying an additional 416,933 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.