Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Grows Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 303.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,018 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 85.9% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $168.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $149.98 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.09. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The business 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.