Bank of America Corp DE Buys 416,933 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 11.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 416,933 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $775,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $34,582,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,853,000 after purchasing an additional 20,408 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,507,000 after purchasing an additional 114,836 shares during the last quarter. Opal Capital LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $6,154,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $2,558,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO opened at $173.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.55 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last 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 expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.14%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.