United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Invests $944,000 in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,624,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $720,212,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $431,677,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,426,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $276,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $166.77 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $160.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Atmos Energy

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.