Focused Alpha LLC Purchases New Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Focused Alpha LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,582,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,507,000 after purchasing an additional 114,836 shares during the period. Opal Capital LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,154,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth $2,558,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 25,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,359,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $196.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.27.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.1%

ATO opened at $170.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $879.06 million during 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.56%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.