Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $276.56 Million Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,605,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $276,558,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,624,975,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth $431,677,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $202,443,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ATO. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $169.35 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.29. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $160.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. The company has a market capitalization of $28.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The firm had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. 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%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware acquired 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.