Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Buys New Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 35,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,195,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 627.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ATO. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $167.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.10 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.26.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

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.