Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 286,406 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 54.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 286,406 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $136,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 6,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ATO. Citigroup lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $169.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.50 and a 200-day moving average of $176.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $149.98 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 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.