Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 120.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,478 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ATO. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 target price on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $186.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $141.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.82. The stock has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $171.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.94.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.95%.

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.