United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 5,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ATO. Argus lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $166.77 on Monday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.23. The company has a market capitalization of $28.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

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.