Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Bought by Westerkirk Capital Inc.

Westerkirk Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 218.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,700 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $6,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 32,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $840,000. Orion Investment Co grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 18,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 174,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,277,000 after purchasing an additional 21,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $167.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $149.98 and a 1-year high of $192.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $181.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.83.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.96 billion during 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 period last year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.14%.

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.