MQS Management LLC Buys New Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $666,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 133.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,814,000 after buying an additional 22,784 shares in the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,096,000. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $901,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,853,000 after purchasing an additional 20,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 899,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,568,000 after purchasing an additional 12,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.50.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $177.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $149.98 and a 1 year high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.14%.

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.