Korea Investment CORP Acquires New Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 157,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,170,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.8% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 39.1% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 2.0%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $167.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $173.57 and a 200-day moving average of $178.26. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.