PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 58,330 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 769,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,330 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $131,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Zacks Research raised Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $179.16 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.75. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $141.59 and a one year high of $180.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.