Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.6667.

ATO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research raised Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $186.55 on Friday. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $141.59 and a twelve month high of $188.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.71 and a 200-day moving average of $172.12. The firm has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

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.