Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $22.90 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 52.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 136,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,242 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $22,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 270.2% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $167.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $181.38 and a 200-day moving average of $176.78. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $149.98 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 target price on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.90.

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.