Earnest Partners LLC Sells 10,319 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Earnest Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 439,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,319 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Atmos Energy worth $74,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ATO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth $282,487,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after buying an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 220.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 720,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,107,000 after buying an additional 495,712 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,899,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,699,000 after buying an additional 362,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,872,162,000 after acquiring an additional 359,780 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATO. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.0%

ATO opened at $188.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $141.59 and a twelve month high of $189.32. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.95%.

Atmos Energy 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.