Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Raises Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,182 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $55,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 206.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,597,000 after purchasing an additional 18,148 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at $961,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 33.8% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Atmos Energy by 267.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 552,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,097,000 after buying an additional 134,748 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of ATO opened at $188.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $141.59 and a 12 month high of $189.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $175.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.32. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a P/E 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.