Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 43.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,099 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $202,000. Colony Family Offices LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $210,000. AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,552,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $172.36 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $149.98 and a one year high of $192.51. The company has a market cap of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.60.

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.