Ieq Capital LLC Invests $9.32 Million in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 54,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,321,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,525,687,000 after acquiring an additional 276,485 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $2,624,975,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 78,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $187.73.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $167.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.57 and its 200-day moving average is $178.26. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 28.50%.The business had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

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.