Energy Income Partners LLC Takes Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 410,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $70,743,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,582,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,507,000 after buying an additional 114,836 shares in the last quarter. Opal Capital LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth $6,154,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth $2,558,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 25,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,359,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $170.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.28. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 28.50%.The firm had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.27.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy 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.